Commentary

Why You’re Secretly Superstitious
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Saadhana Kalimuthu (27A01C)

In the age of Google, ChatGPT, and instant access to every fact in human history, you would think superstition would be dead. But no: it survives in TikTok trends about “manifesting” good grades, group chats that blame bad weeks on Mercury retrograde, and students who absolutely refuse to take an exam without their specific “lucky” pen. Is all this simply a silly joke? We laugh and behave as if it is one, but it’s difficult to proclaim that we don’t believe in it at all.

So, why do we still hold onto these beliefs when we know the science behind them? Why do perfectly rational students still hold their breath when walking past a dark corner?

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Commentary, Raffles Reviews

Paved Over the Dead
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By: Saadhana Kalimuthu (27A01C)

You know that instinct to sprint up the stairs the second you turn off the lights? Or the hesitation before looking into a mirror at 3 AM?

For a country as modern and brightly lit as Singapore, we have a surprising number of ghost stories. We pass by these supposedly haunted spots on our daily commutes, and we’ve all heard the legends passed down by friends or family. But have you ever wondered where these stories actually come from?

Many of our most famous haunts aren’t just fabricated to scare people, but rather deeply rooted in history. Once you look past the surface-level scares, you’ll realise these places are much more than just urban legends.

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Commentary, School Life

Tab Overload: Clearing the Digital Clutter
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Lee Yi Ning Megan (27A01B)

Working online often begins innocently enough. You open a document, a few sources for research, perhaps a dictionary or a video in the background. Before long, however, the number of tabs begins to multiply.

Some are immediately useful. Others are kept open because they might be needed later. A few have probably been sitting there for days, long after you have forgotten why you opened them in the first place.

For many students, this has become a familiar part of studying online. Tabs often serve as reminders of unfinished tasks and pages we intend to revisit, but as they accumulate, the tab bar can quickly become cluttered and difficult to navigate.

So, why are we so reluctant to close them, and what can we do when our tab bar starts getting out of hand?

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CCA Events, Clubs, School Life

Astronite ‘26: Stardust
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Harish Arun Prasad (27S05B) and Sean Loh (27S06I)

All photos courtesy of Grace Zhu Ziqi (27S06G) and Backiaraj Jai Poshika (27S06H) from Raffles Astronomy Club.

Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’

As one of the world’s most renowned paintings, Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ depicts the simple yet profound beauty of the cosmos against the backdrop of a turbulent sky. Many have come to interpret these stars as a beacon of hope amidst dark times. 

Yet, over a century after Van Gogh painted this scene, we now struggle to view such scenery in our night skies, a result humankind has brought upon itself. As the effects of light and air pollution escalate in our society, people growing up today are being further deprived of the ability to take in the view of a “starry sky”.

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