Op-Eds

Commentary, Internationally Speaking

“You Need To Know The Truth”: Lim Bo Seng Memorial Lecture 2025
Reading Time: 8 minutes

By Kunchur Bharat (26A01B)

Cast your mind back to your lower secondary History lessons for a moment. The phrases “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”, “banana money”, and “did not ATQ” may bring back horrific memories of poring over stacks of notes, trying to cram every last detail into your brain, or sacrificing legibility for speed as you raced against the clock to finish the Source-Based Case Study. 

Or, perhaps, the dread that set in as you weighed two conflicting interpretations and wondered which was the “correct” one? Indeed, history is written (and taught and examined) by the victors — so what do the losers have to say? And why are they worth listening to, if at all?

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Commentary, Op-Eds, Opinion

On Regret: To Our “Could-Have-Been”s
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Peh Zhi Ning (25A01B)

Last Friday, I was in a Shi Li Fang with a good friend, chatting with each other amidst mala-spiced steam and distant music, when she asked me, “If you could redo your life, what would you change?” 

What sprouted from this relatively random question was an hour-long conversation – we dug up all sorts of memories. Familial arguments, subject combinations, broken-off friendships, failed confessions, wasted time… I remember my friend laughing, a sad and nostalgic peal, as she said, “I could have been an astrophysicist.” 

I had matched her declaration with my own could-have-beens – trials I hadn’t gone for, experiences I didn’t try, risks I feared taking. Despite how little we’ve lived, our laundry list of regrets was surprisingly long and detailed, with innumerable plans of redemption already in our minds. By the time the soup in our pot simmered down to dregs, we had woven together perfect lives, without misstep or mistake – without regret. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, Opinion

Escaping the Maze: Is Learning an Instrument Worth the Trouble?
Reading Time: 9 minutes

By Kunchur Bharat (26A01B) and Lerraine Neo (26A01A) 

Singaporean parents are one of the most kiasu species on the planet, and this competitive nature often manifests in strange ways. Perhaps strangest of all is the obsession with their child’s musical abilities. 

Music is not seen as a career path in Singaporean society. Informing your parents that you aspire to be a musician will likely gain you a look of poorly-disguised horror, a lecture on how you’re wasting your intellectual potential, and a desperate talk about how you do not have to make a career out of your passions.

At this point, you may pause to wonder: Weren’t you the one who put me in music lessons in the first place? 

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Commentary, Op-Eds

The GhostBusters Handbook – A Quick Guide to Busting Ghosting 
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Looi Ee Xin (26S03M)

Have you ever impatiently looked at Blue Ticks (possibly Grey Ticks)? Or anticipated a reply to your email but ended up waiting for months and months? If you have experienced any of these scenarios, I am here to deliver bad news. You have been a target of – ghosting. 

As a professional ghostbuster, I will be covering all there is to know about ghosting and how you can bust those ghosts. Rest assured; these ghosts will not touch you with a 10 foot pole after you’ve employed these tactics. 

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