What is a “Chinese Orchestra”? To some a “Chinese Orchestra” is just a bunch of silly looking people performing the same Chinese New Year songs during every Lunar New Year celebration. To others, “Chinese Orchestra” is a cluster of students who perform weird Chinese music that seemed totally foreign at a certain CO concert they attended to support a friend.  Sure, to a certain extent, they may be right, but that is definitely not all there is to a CO.

To us, CO is a gathering of friends who share the same passion for playing music together. As an orchestra, everyone plays a part in creating and shaping our music. What makes us different from a symphonic band or orchestra however is that we create music using Chinese instruments such as the guzheng and pipa, and we build our foundation through Chinese music. But that doesn’t restrict us to making only Chinese music! In fact, CO plays music of all genres and origins, be it modern or traditional, Western or Oriental. Don’t believe me? Here are Chinese Orchestras playing cool songs that you can connect to:

In RICO, we believe that we should play music with each other and for each other. All members have a say in what songs we should play, and some even arrange or compose their own pieces which we often feature.  Regardless of our members’ prior experience in playing an instrument before or not, everyone has a place in RJCO.

As an orchestra, every member is crucial in shaping the group sound. Our practices are split into 2 types: sectional and orchestral. In Wednesday sectional practices, we split up into our sections to hone our individual skills and instrument mastery so as to achieve a homogenous sound within the section. In Thursday/Friday orchestral practices, all sections gather to coordinate between sections shape the music as an orchestra, creating one unified sound.

But it’s more than just the music. It is also about how 60 over people can work together to create something beautiful and become a big family. For most of us, our love for RICO stems from the friendship that binds us together. It’s about those late night dinners we have after practices and early morning gatherings just to see each others’ smiles before we plunge into the day. It’s about those outings, chalets and camps that allow us to spend quality time together, half the time mocking and teasing each other. And it’s about those friends that you know that you can fall back on, because there’s an entire orchestra behind you.  We go through the highs and the lows as one orchestra.

What is a “Chinese Orchestra”?  It’s just a usual group of students, bound by an unusual bond of friendship, playing music together.

Looking for something exciting and fun yet meaningful? Do you want to bond with your fellow Indian batchmates over some interesting activities? Then Indian Cultural Society is the CCA for you. In ICS, you get to organise and participate in numerous notable events from our annual cultural production to service learning activities. In collaboration with SINDA, we organised Value-O-City (notice the pun with velocity and vivocity? hehe), an Amazing Race targeted at 150 primary school students at Sentosa. It was fun-filled day with various games and activities which not only enriched the kids but also our ICS members. We also did a 5-week long Skills School Programme for Primary 4 to 5 kids with emphasis on inspiring and mentoring the kids. Members were happy to make an impact on the small kids in a big way.

Look forward to being on stage in our very own annual Sangamam show, a cultural showpiece. Sangamam is one of the main highlights of our CCA as members come together to showcase their talents such as acting, singing and dancing. The road to Sangamam is filled with memories as you get to work with your friends to stage this production. As Maanasa, a member of ICS mentioned, “Sangamam is one of the most fun thing in JC!” Sangamam 2014 will feature a major change from the previous years. Come join ICS and get to be part of this milestone. You can surely expect the unexpected…

Other than just in the Raffles Indian community, members also get to be involved in the wider Indian community through participation in SINDA Youth Leaders’ Seminar and Yishun Junior College Seminar.  Our members have also participated in diverse competitions from short films to short story writing.

We meet either on Wednesdays or Fridays weekly/fortnightly and more frequently as events draw closer. Your involvement in ICS is fully up to you, flexible and you can choose to take on responsibilities such as being in charge of events or help out during the event itself.

There is no pressure, only laughter and memories as one big family.

The Outdoor Adventure Club (ODAC) is made up of a community of people who love the outdoors, who dare to try new things and who look beyond themselves to work together towards a common goal. We ultimately aim to develop the character of every single ODACian and inculcate in every ODACian – respect, for oneself, for others, and for the environment, while using the outdoors as a medium. As the name suggests, ODAC takes part in a plethora of outdoor activities, such as overseas expeditions, kayaking, rock-climbing, hiking, cycling, mountain biking and many more.

There are several key milestones that each ODACian has to go through – Basic Training Camp (BTC), June Expedition, Gear Up and last but not least December Expedition. As ODAC does not take part in any competitions, these milestones are an important assessment of the achievement of each batch. Therefore, ODACians are strongly encouraged to go for the weeklong expedition (usually 4D3N) during the June holidays as well as the longer expedition during the December holidays.

Due to the nature of ODAC, it is preferred that ODACians do not sign up for enrichment programs as the overseas expeditions of ODAC tends to clash with the trips and activities of many enrichment programs, such as ALPS, ISLE, GCEP, BLP and LBA. Moreover, interested students should also take note that there is a cost involved in joining ODAC because of the price paid for our expeditions and personal equipment.

Our training days fall on Mondays (4.30pm – 6.30pm) and Wednesdays (2.30pm – 6.30pm), with the longer durations usually used for external trainings around Singapore. Training for our expeditions become a part and parcel of ODAC life. Running, static exercises, staircase climbing and Bukit Timah Hill trainings sometimes even with loaded backpacks are a familiar routine for all ODACians. This is to ensure that all ODACians attain a certain level of physical fitness, to eventually challenge ourselves in a way we have never before during the expedition.

Of course, if you were to ask any ODACian, not all trainings are about building up our fitness levels, we do have many trainings having the outdoors incorporated into them. As a batch, we’ve trekked the Southern Ridges, the Pipe-A-Pipe trail, Macritchie and Peirce reservoir nature trails and many more. And for many of us, these are trails that we would have never gone on by ourselves. ODAC has brought us on a journey to discover the hidden gems of our very own country, with mesmerizing, breath-taking and picturesque scenery.

Each batch of ODACians has entirely different experiences, embarking on different expeditions to various places each year. And for last year’s batch of ODACians, we scaled both the sixth highest mountain in Malaysia, the second tallest mountain in East Asia, and cycled more than 250km along the East coast of Taiwan.

ODAC embraces the idea of ‘the path less chosen’, no doubt, some people might wonder whether it is worth lugging a 15kg backpack up and down a mountain when there are other sceneries out there that are much more accessible. To these people, we will now very frankly tell you that ODAC is not the CCA for you.

We’re looking for the individual willing to step out of his/her comfort zone and continually challenge him/herself to better his/her skills, who has the mental strength to pull through difficult situations, who is a team player and cares for his/her batchmates, and most importantly, the individual who, at the end of the day, is are able to rejoice that he/she gets to be a part of what nature has to offer.

But just to clarify, we aren’t looking for people with a do-or-die attitude, we’re looking for people willing to try and give it their best shot. And if you think that you’re up to that challenge, we welcome you to join the ODAC family.

The Raffles Institution (Year 5-6) Guitar Ensemble (RJGE) has risen to prominence to be one of the best full-fledged Niibori guitar ensembles in Singapore at the JC level under the baton of Mr. Michael Gaspar.

RJGE took part in the biennial Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) in 2013, where we performed two beautiful classical pieces, “Mountains in Autumn” and “Slavonic Dance No. 8”. It was a great opportunity for us to bond and get together to make music as a family and our efforts culminated into a hard-earned Distinction.

Also, a combined concert with the RI (Year 1-4) Guitar Ensemble, REJOICE! was put up in May. This concert was the highlight of our RJGE year as we worked together to put up an amazing concert featuring various genres of music and creative works arranged by our own members. With supportive instructors and teachers, our ensemble is given the freedom to experiment, explore and enjoy. We put together a wide repertoire, ranging from classical and folk pieces, to more modern pieces featuring Jay Chou songs, a movie medley and even Disney cartoon theme songs. It was definitely a night to behold for the whole ensemble when we showcased our musical talent, exhibited great teamwork and enjoyed good fun.

Next year, there will be several exciting performances and competition to look forward to, including the 8^th Guitar Ensemble Festival in April as well as our very own concert in May.

Our practices are held twice weekly, every Monday and Wednesday. Additional practices may be held on Saturday mornings, if necessary, prior to major performances.

All Year 5 students are welcome to join the RJGE family to play good music and forge new friendships! No prior guitar background is required to join as lessons will be conducted by your seniors. We encourage all Y5s to join us for auditions and begin your journey with RJGE!