Student Features

Arts, CCA Events, Features, Humans of RI, Student Features

Caravan: Raffles Jazz Swings into the Spotlight
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Christian Adriel Tan (26S07B) 

All photographs provided by RIAC

When we think of jazz, the image that often drifts to mind is gentle and subdued—the kind of mellow music that hums softly beneath dinner conversations in candlelit restaurants. Brushed cymbals, warm saxophone lines, piano notes that wander without urgency — the quiet, unobtrusive soundtrack of hotel lobbies and late-night lounges. But Caravan!—Raffles Jazz’s ARTSeason 2025 showcase—turned that image on its head. Here, jazz stepped into the spotlight not as ambience, but as art: music that twisted, teased, and transformed with every phrase.

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Features, Humans of RI, Humour, Staff Features, Student Features

Back in the trenches: A Guide to Surviving as a Y7 Teacher (Part 1)
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Huang Han Cheng (26S05B) and Lerraine Neo (26A01A)

The average student spends around five hundred and twenty days enrolled in JC. For most, the number is a countdown, with each passing day one step closer to liberation. Yet every year, several students of the graduating class make the brave (if confusing) decision to return to RI – not as students, but as teachers. 

This year, RI’s teaching staff was temporarily joined by three Y7s, as well as a few Y9s returning after their stint in the National Service. We spoke at length with some of them to hear their experiences working in such a strangely familiar place. This is their guide on surviving an extended stay in Raffles Institution. 

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Features, Humans of RI, Staff Features, Student Features

Back in the trenches: A Guide to Surviving as a Y7 Teacher (Part 2)
Reading Time: 9 minutes

By Huang Han Cheng (26S05B) and Lerraine Neo (26A01A)

At the start of the year, several ex-students made the perilous decision to return to RI as teachers. At first glance, it seems the choice has been nothing but beneficial — newfound freedoms, no more pressure, endless time to bask in nostalgia (read more about this in Part 1). 

But being at school can never be a pain-free experience, and the teachers have run into plenty of obstacles in their journey as teaching staff. Read on to find out more about their struggles, how they coped, and their final words of advice. 

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Features, Humans of RI, Student Features

The 45th Students’ Council Ascends to Service
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Jaden Lum Zi Jun (26S05A) and Huang Han Cheng (26S05B)

Photos courtesy of Kaylea Tan (26A01E) from RIAC

RAFFLES INSTITUTION — Elected by their peers, the 45th Students’ Council was sworn in on Thursday, May 28th. And although the notable absence of the newly appointed President Michelle Chen (26S03J) —away on a school trip to Germany—was sorely felt, the lecture theatre maintained an ebullient yet solemn atmosphere, with the fresh-faced members of the 45th awaiting a mantle 44 years in the making.  

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Arts, CCA Events, Features, Humans of RI, Student Features

A salesman is got to dream: Death of a Salesman by Raffles Players
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Koh Shin Robbie (26A01A)

All photographs provided by RIAC

“He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine… A salesman is got to dream, boy.”

Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller

This line came from Charley, played by Lu Xueqi (26S06I) in Raffles Players’ annual college production— Death of a Salesman. This quote encapsulated not just the hopes and aspirations of characters in the play by Arthur Miller, but also the team behind the show and their supporters. Students who took Literature in RI Y4 may recall this play as the set text we pored through relentlessly for our Final Examinations, and indeed amongst the audience were many excited Death of a Salesman students (even current Y4s!), eager to watch the play in action.

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