By Lin Jiachen (19S03D), Chairperson
In the past few years, the tangled ties of world affairs have bundled into a tedious knot, while the roller-coaster ride that is economics has added a couple more slopes to give one a rather hair-raising thrill. Yet, if you are undaunted by these developments, and in fact wish for a platform to vent your opinions; or if, perhaps, you are one of those brave ones who want to know more, then RECAS is the CCA for you.
RECAS is a very small and close-knit community with strong sense of camaraderie between its members. We provide a safe learning environment for you to voice your views and ask questions without the fear of being disparaged. Regardless of whether you have an inclination to read more about economics, or have a keen interest in world affairs, or simply need an easily accessible source to satisfy your GP needs, we’ve got you covered. Every week, selected members will share more about a topic with anything from presentations, to interesting clips, to jeopardy-style quizzes and games, and even field trips (Just as an example, we visited the parliament this year). With our wide scope of content, members can freely explore what they are interested in. Moreover, being a student-directed CCA, we enjoy a rare degree of autonomy which allows our members to weigh in on the planning of all of our sessions and activities.
In RECAS, we have big dreams — we aspire to incite an avid curiosity about world happenings and economic developments amongst the larger Raffles population. And hence, we have been keeping up with weekly news updates on Instagram as well as trying to maintain a monthly publication. All members are involved in the writing of the magazine, so you can pour your views about some of the happenings in the world today, and their implications on us as global citizens and share it with our readers.
But make no mistake, RECAS isn’t only limited to Raffles. RECAS goes beyond the purview of intra-school events. We as a CCA have arrived on the national stage, having taken part in various competitions, including the Economics Society of Singapore Essay Competition (2nd Prize), the NUS Chancellor’s Challenge Shield (Champion), the NTU Current Affairs Competition (3rd place) and the NUS National Economics and Finance Management Quiz. Being a member of RECAS provides you with the opportunity to represent the CCA (and the school) in many competitions, allowing you to further hone your passion for world affairs, develop an inquisitive mind, and meet like-minded peers from other schools as well!
RECAS is not just about the knowledge of world events. After all, it is the people affected that truly matter. While the world is definitely out of reach, we try as much as possible to reach out to our local community. We organize service initiatives, such as volunteering at Willing Heart. Our most notable activity is the Human Library, where we seek to open conversations about marginalized groups within the greater society.
Lastly, for the nitty-gritty: Prospective members can look forward to weekly CCA sessions on Wednesdays starting from 2.30pm until about 4.30 pm, depending on how long the presentations and discussions are.
With that, if you like what you see or better yet, if you think you can do better, we eagerly anticipate you joining us!
