Student Issues

Arts, Commentary, Op-Eds, Student Issues

Where Thou Art, Art: The EJ-RI Perspective
Reading Time: 11 minutes

This was written in collaboration with EJC Press as part of Issue 3 of Cross Island Impressions, an inter-JC Press collaboration. You can read Issue 3 here.

By Jason Sutio (22S06U; RI), Murugan Rakshita (21-E1; EJC), S Sanjana Rajan (21-01; EJC), and Tricia Loh (21-U1; EJC)

Because it is foolish to criticise pre-existing civil systems, no sane citizen is ready to sink their hands into the dirty work of criticising the education system, and the vocational world after it, and preaching alternatives. Here’s some delightful news: we are here to lighten your burden and take it upon ourselves (spurred by our sense of obligation to do so, as students who genuinely care for the welfare of the student population in Singapore) to educate the importance of an arts education. We feel compelled to scrunch up our sleeves and correct a misconception: STEM > ARTS. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, School Life, Student Issues

Let’s Talk (About Perfectionism): Is The Best Yet To Be?
Reading Time: 7 minutes

This was written in collaboration with EJC Press as part of Issue 3 of Cross Island Impressions, an inter-JC Press collaboration. You can read Issue 3 here.

By Mei Feifei (22A13A; RI), Nigel Ng (21-A3; EJC), and Zuo Yuning (21-A1; EJC)

“I strived for perfection but what has that left me with? Crippling depression!” 

Such was an anonymous Rafflesian’s damning indictment of perfectionism. A quick survey of 106 students from RI and EJC told us that the different manifestations of perfectionism (as listed in the figure below) are not unfamiliar to students; if anything, most of us, at some point in our lives, have been a perfectionist in one way or another. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, School Life, Student Issues

To Students’ Council, With Love
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Faith Ho (22A01A), Mei Feifei (22A13A), and Sophie Goh (22S07B)

Dear RI Students’ Council, 

To be honest, your elections are a little strange.

Every April, Rafflesians’ Instagram feeds are suddenly flooded with red/green/blue/yellow/purple-themed accounts masquerading under tags—some combination of letters and numbers indecipherable to any non-Rafflesian. We start getting bombarded with buzzwords like “servant leadership”, “voice” and “change”, colourful canteen boards (which really deserve more attention), and the unspoken cry of VOTE ME. Online challenges and speeches blow past like a whirlwind, and before we know it, we’re about to witness the investiture of RI’s 41st Students’ Council.

So we come to the question: how effective exactly is Council campaigning? 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, School Life, Student Issues

An EJ-RI Opinion: Is Blended Learning Helpful?
Reading Time: 7 minutes

This was written in collaboration with EJC Press as part of Issue 2 of Cross Island Impressions, an inter-JC Press collaboration. You can read Issue 2 here.

By Sara Chia (21S03G; RI), Koo ii (21S05A; RI), Soh Iwin (20-E5; EJC), Ng Teck Zhong (20-E5; EJC) 

If you told us last year that Home Based Learning would become the norm, we would not have taken you seriously.

Alas, now that we have gotten all too familiar with online learning provisions, what do Eunoians and Rafflesians think about the new arrangements for 2021? 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, School Life, Student Issues

Of (CCA) Trials and Tribulations: Dealing with Rejection
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Neo Xin Yuan (21A01D)

Trial Outcome: Unsuccessful. 

A year ago, I was staring at these words printed innocuously on the webpage, thinking it must be a mistake.

Both CCAs that I’d tried for had rejected me. Both of which I would’ve loved to get into as they aligned with two of my biggest passions: art and writing. I tried to smile it off in front of my friends, but inadvertently, I fell in a bad mood for the next few days that slipped by. 

A friend asked me which CCA she should choose between two that had accepted her. She had more than two CCAs to choose from. It’s hard not to feel anything less than jealous when both the CCAs I’d applied for had accepted her—the same CCAs that rejected me. Later, I was notified that I was accepted because of a vacancy, but the damage had been done—for a long time, I felt like I didn’t truly belong in my club as I had been a ‘second choice’.  

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