Op-Eds

Commentary, Op-Eds, Opinion, School Life, Special Editions

Is One Enough? The Single-CCA System (School Matters Special Edition 2025)
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Isaac Chan (25A01B), Valerie Ng (25S06N)

In 2025, beginning with the Batch of 2026, it was announced that Y56 Rafflesians would no longer be allowed to take on two Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs). The only dual-CCA combinations allowed would be Council and a non-schedule-conflicting CCA.

This is a marked change from the Batch of 2025’s and prior batches’ experience: while most would stick to one CCA, many Clubs and Societies saw their members taking on another CCA, often a higher-commitment one. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, Opinion, Special Editions, Student Issues

The Weight We Wear: Where Our Uniform Regulations Fall Short (School Matters Special Edition 2025)
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Isaac Tay (25S06L) and Yvonne Cheung (25S03S)

Morning assembly is a test of endurance. Students rush up from the parade square, desperate to make it to their classes by 7:58am. The morning sun, the clawing heat and humidity of 2400 students crammed into the parade square, combined with the run from Marymount MRT station—it all conspires to make the expectations of looking smart and tidy even more difficult to meet. By the end of the Principal’s address, a sea of translucent dress shirts have bloomed, students slick with sweat, fabric clinging like cling-wrap to their backs and shoulder blades. 

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Movie Reviews, Op-Eds, Opinion, Raffles Reviews

‘Superman’ Review: Classic on Arrival
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Nithilan Balachander (26A01C)

Superman is the original. The first. The archetype of all superheroes. Debuting in 1938 with a cape and emblem, a secret identity, and an unwavering moral compass, he started what is now the most culturally dominant genre in all of entertainment.

Yet, while the MCU has established itself as a seemingly invincible box office behemoth, Superman—and DC in general, for that matter—has only declined further and further into irrelevance and insignificance.

Now, tasked with reimagining the oldest superhero and resurrecting a dead universe to go with, writer-director James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”, “The Suicide Squad”) delivers the silliest Superman feature in all of cinematic history—and it is exactly the treatment Superman needs.

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Op-Eds, Opinion

The Beauty of Failure
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Christian Adriel Tan (26S07B)

Failure doesn’t always feel the same. Sometimes it feels like an abrupt fall from the grace of success. Your breath catches in your chest before you even understand what’s happened. The ground rushes up quicker than you imagined, and the landing knocks the spirit out of you. And when you gaze back at the place you just stood — that slim, golden ledge of confidence and hope — it seems impossibly far away. 

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Commentary, Movie Reviews, Op-Eds, Opinion

Why You Shouldn’t Watch K-Pop Demon Hunters: A Spoiler-free Review
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By: Tara Sim (26A01C)

As of July 15th, K-Pop Demon Hunters has maintained its No. 1 spot on Netflix on the English Film List with almost 25 million viewers since its third week of release, while songs performed by Huntrix and Saja Boys, the main K-Pop girl and boy group in the storyline, have topped the US music charts, overtaking leading K-pop groups BTS and Blackpink. But why has a seemingly light-hearted, unserious kids’ show about a monster-fighting girl group suddenly exploded in popularity–even among viewers way outside its intended demographic? 

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