Student Issues

Op-Eds, Opinion, Student Issues

Let’s Talk: Multi-hyphenates
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Shermaine Lim (22S03N)

On the first day of the January Induction Programme, I sat in the middle of the lecture hall, amidst 200 restless students who were visibly reeling from the effects of the never ending series of perfunctory talks. 

However, there was one particular talk that piqued my attention, that being the one titled: How to Thrive in JC. Intrigued, I craned my neck and paid special attention to the Year Head, who introduced the concept of being a multi-hyphenate. 

For those unfamiliar with this term, a multi-hyphenate is described as a person with varied skills with a certain level of expertise. These are your Kylie Jenners, the actress-model-business owner-celebrity, of our society. They refer to a group of outstanding individuals who excel at a range of areas of expertise, with a multitude of titles under their belts. 

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Commentary, Opinion, Student Issues

It’s Okay to Not Know What You Want to Do!
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Andrea Ng (22S06B)

To the lost Rafflesian:

Ever see your older cousins or aunts and uncles get pelted with questions about their jobs and relationships during family gatherings? Those questions never fail to give me a good laugh and I would think to myself that thankfully, that is a problem for another day, because I am still studying. 

As I grow older, I realise that age does not matter when it comes to being asked the BIG question: what do you want to do in the future?

I myself am guilty of using this as a conversation starter. However, this is a bad one that usually gets me nowhere in developing a stronger relationship with the other party because when the same question is thrown my way, I simply answer: I don’t know.

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Op-Eds, Student Issues

Let’s Talk: Productivity Is Overrated
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Lara Tan (22A01B)

You know that funny feeling you get when you open your Instagram account (if you hadn’t already deleted it) around Promos season, and your friends are posting about a certain leafy productivity app that helps them stay focused for hours at a time? 

Yes, you know what I’m talking about. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, Student Issues

Maskfishing: Of Making Friends and Forging Relationships
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Andrea Ng (22S06B)

A little less than two years ago, only famous celebrities wore masks, which served to hide their faces from the public when they wished for anonymity. Now, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, mask-wearing has become the norm, and only those who don’t become online sensations. 

This mandate by governments in most countries has given rise to a new phenomenon—mask fishing, a neologism coined as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which refers to the phenomenon where a person appears to be more attractive because they are wearing a facemask. 

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Commentary, Nationally Speaking, Op-Eds, Student Issues

No, I Don’t Speak Tamil: Understanding Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTIL)
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Samyak Jain (21S03A) and Snehal Sachde (21S07C)
Cover image by Neo Xin Yuan (21A01D) 

Chances are, you’ve complained about taking Mother Tongue before. We sure have. However, some of us have more to complain about than others. On top of the regular boredom which many associate with the subject, students who take Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTILs) face a unique set of challenges that are generally not considered by the wider school population. 

Chances also are, you know that most Indians in Singapore speak and learn Tamil. However, this isn’t an accurate representation of the languages spoken in India at all. 

Continue reading “No, I Don’t Speak Tamil: Understanding Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTIL)” →