Commentary, Features

It Smells Like Class Spirit

By Ling Young Loon (18S07A)
Photograph courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society

Dear J1s,

How are your lessons going? Have you made new friends in class? Has the orientation fervour flopped out? Are you worried you’ll Fjäll your CTs?

The year begins to drag its feet; the enchanting time of CCA camps and Monday Enrichment fun is waning. Common tests are lurking in the corner. Project Work starts to sink its teeth, and lectures will begin to sting. Academics is now a looming shadow, and the joy starts to subside. You’re boxed into tutorials and pumped into lectures, attacking homework and performing practicals. That’s when you realise: most of your time here will be spent in class.

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2018 Season, Commentary

Post-hock: Hockey Finals 2018

By Aaron Tan (19A01B) and Kwee Qiao Ying (19S03K)
Photographs courtesy of David Lin (18S06O) of Raffles Photographic Society

2.47pm. We are late (just a little). In anxious anticipation I call Sushin (19S03M) to ask when I was to meet the team. A minute later, I get a call back.

“Meet you at the bus. Let’s go.”

And so I clambered on, a bumbling anomaly amongst the wine-shirted sea of one of the best A-division hockey teams on the island of Singapore. Calm, ear-plugged, exuding quiet confidence, our defending champions cruised onward, onward towards Sengkang Hockey Stadium. Towards our formidable foes of Victoria Junior College, who waited to challenge our crown.

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Human Interest

Behind the Seams: The Designers of Raffles Runway

By Rachel Lee (19A01D), Soh Ying Qi (18A01C) and Soh Gek Shuen (18S03B)

Read the first part of this feature on the models of Raffles Runway here.

When one thinks of fashion, one inevitably sees the results: the looks paraded on red carpets, international Fashion Weeks and runways that, to the untrained eye, almost seem endless. Rarely is anything made of the process behind the show, the countless hours that go into sketching and sewing and a billion tiny modifications.

Similarly, the preparation for Raffles Runway’s annual showcase is laborious and lengthy, a fact that remains hidden when one sees the dazzling results. In this feature, Raffles Press brings you behind the scenes with one designer, Dou Jingzhi (18S03C), for a look at how it all comes together.

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2018 Season, Commentary

Smashing Through: Squash Girls’ Finals 2018

By Caryn Chiah (19A01A) and Shervon Lee (19S06A)
Photographs courtesy of Zheng Huijun (19A13B) of Raffles Photographic Society

On 4 May, the excited chatter of supporters slowly filled the Kallang Squash and Tennis Centre as the competitors were warmed up for their upcoming matches. The Squash Girls’ team of Raffles’ Institution was up against previous champions, Anglo-Chinese Junior College. Having lost the championship the year before, the thirst to win was evident in the players. The crowd soon grew silent as Sneha Sivakumar (19S03J) stepped into the court to serve her first shot. With an effortless stroke, the ball entered a graceful trajectory to the wall. The finals were underway.

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Human Interest

Spotlight on the Control Room: Behind the Scenes with AVU

By Joyce Lee (19S06O) and Alyssa Marie Loo (19A13A)

Most of those attending Raffles Jazz’s Birdland concert would have had their eyes trained on the stage, mesmerised by the bright lights and talented performers. Unbeknownst to most, a totally different performance was taking place right behind them, in the shadows of the PAC control room. Four AVU members sat in tense silence, three of them manned the sound board, and one controlled the lights. Midway through a song, one of the AV members said urgently: “The bass, can’t hear the solo enough”. With a flurry of directions, fingers flipping and sliding switches across the soundboard, the lovely baritone of the bass solo began to glide over the sound system.

One might think AVU is simply present to ensure rudimentary technical functioning: making sure sound is working, lights are on, and the projector behaves when videos are played. Yet, as with so many other things, there is much more than meets the eye. Raffles Press had the opportunity to witness everything else that occurs in the control room, shining a spotlight on what really goes on behind-the-scenes, and how AVU plays a far more crucial, albeit almost invisible, role at every performance in RI.

Continue reading “Spotlight on the Control Room: Behind the Scenes with AVU” →