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Commentary, Notes from the Underground, Op-Eds, School Life, Student Issues

Let’s Talk (About Depression)
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Wong Zi Yang (19A01D)
Cover illustration by Alvin Lim Jun Han (19S06B)

I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone that we have quite a few students suffering from depression in Singapore. In fact, it’s one of the more common mental illnesses seen in Singaporean youth. What comes as a bit of a surprise to me is how little people actually care about the situation; and by “‘care” I mean take tangible action against it. We may hear the odd rumour here and there: “he’s been missing school a lot lately”, or “someone has been hospitalised”. If an incident does happen, people keep quiet out of confidentiality and respect for those involved. But at the same time, doing so means that there is little to no impetus for uninvolved students, already busy enough as is with the academic rigour of school, to care much about it. The problem is not addressed at its root, and we just don’t talk about it – and so I set out to look deeper into students’ responses to depression in Raffles: Do people care enough about it? What then can we do about it?

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Clubs, Commentary, Student Features

Come Fly With Me: Inside the Raffles Aviation Club
Reading Time: 14 minutes

By Varun Karthik (19S06A) and Aaron Tan (19A01B)
Photos courtesy of the Raffles Aviation Club

Somewhere along Airport Road, where the buildings are low and the sky stretches endlessly above, stands a quaint little establishment known as the Singapore Air Force Museum. If you ventured within, past the retired aircraft, up the elevator to the officers’ mess on the third floor – and if you were visiting on the 13th of December 2018 – you would find four figures sitting close before a stage in the cozy hall, the site of the Aviation Safety Competition 2018.

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Clubs, Commentary

Homeground 2019: Gardens by the Bay
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Aaron Tan (19A01B)
Photographs courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning at the Gardens by the Bay. The sun is shining. A cool breeze rustles through the air, birds chirp, and thirteen kilometres away (or so), buses boarded by Rafflesians, workers, and anticipation are hurrying towards the Supertrees. Homeground 2019: Gardens by the Bay, is underway.

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Commentary, Notes from the Underground, School Life

RSS Mental Health Strand 2019
Reading Time: 8 minutes

By Wong Zi Yang (19A01D)

Photos courtesy of the Raffles Photographic Society

The Raffles Science Symposium Mental Health Strand is back and into its third year, and its focus? You. The theme for this year’s series of mental health talks is ‘Mind-Body Disconnect’, with the Mental Health Strand placing more emphasis on the correlation between physical and mental health. With a total of three external speakers, the event promised to be more prolific than its two predecessors. The event began with an opening address by Mr Magendiran; at least, it was meant to. Although he was originally positioned to deliver the opening address, the event began immediately with Ms Woo Mei Hui from the Raffles Guidance Centre introducing the first speaker, Mr Michael Chee instead. “That’s what happens when you don’t get enough sleep,” Ms Woo laughed, which proved to be an apt if ironic segue to the first topic of discussion.

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Commentary, Sports

FIRE Tourney 2019: Have you got the spirit?
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Sarah Chen (19S03C) and Shervon Lee (19S06A)

Photographs courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the FIRE Tourney attacked. Only the Basketball, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed it most, it vanished — into the hands of the players. Over the weekend, from the 18th to the 20th of January, the basketball courts of Raffles Institution (RI) and Singapore American School (SAS) were ablaze with players from different schools pit against each other. The squeaking of shoes on court, the dull thud of the basketball, and the musky scent of sweat in the air all amplified to a boiling point in the confines of the court — the game was on.

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