Book Reviews, Raffles Reviews

SingLit For When You Feel… 
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Claire Jow (23A01B), Faith Ho (22A01A), Lara Tan (22A01B) and Saara Katyal (23S05A)

Singaporean Literature – you know it, you (maybe) love it, you probably remember it from that one Sec 2 Lit lesson on poetry analysis when everyone still took all three Humanities subjects. 

Maybe you want to get back into it after all this time, like reconnecting with an old friend. Maybe you’re curious about it and want to diversify your library. Or maybe, just maybe, you happen to know an awful lot more about SingLit than us and are just here for sport. 

In any case, SingLit can come across as an intimidating genre; after all, there’s so much our local literary scene has to offer! But fret not: we have compiled our favourite short story anthologies, fiction novels, poetry collections and plays that we recommend (based on how you feel, of course). 

Without further ado, here is our list.

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CCA Events, Commentary, Nature Features, School Life

Tree Two One: Kicking Off a Greener Singapore
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Noh Sangeun (23S06Q)

Photos courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society, and credits to Brandon Ang (23S03L) for the title of this article.

Raffles House, at Fort Canning Park, overlooks the sleek skyscrapers of the Central Business District. As a place with such grand reminders of modernity, it seems even more meaningful that it should be a venue for the celebration of heritage and history.

Fort Canning was where, two centuries ago, Sir Stamford Raffles erected Singapore’s first botanical and experimental garden. On 4th June, the school honoured this ecological legacy: Raffles House hosted teachers, students, alumni, and esteemed guests at the inaugural tree-planting event for the 1823 Trees campaign.

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Book Reviews, Commentary, Opinion, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: Pony
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.

By Keiran Koh (22S06M)

Rating : 4.5/5

After her critically-acclaimed work  “Wonder” achieved stupendous success, R.J Palacio released her newest work outside the Wonder universe in 2021, titled ‘Pony’.

Set in the 1800s in Ohio, USA, Pony follows the story of a 12 year-old with odd talents, Silas Bird, who lives with his father, Martin Bird, a boot maker and brilliant inventor. Silas is also accompanied by Mittenwool, a ghost, whom he shares banters with. Their cloistered and tranquil lifestyle is soon upended, however, when Roscoe Ollerenshaw and his henchmen take Martin Bird away to conduct some dubious business, unbeknownst to Silas. The following morning, a pony with a shimmering black coat, white head and piercing blue eyes surprises him at Silas doorstep, probing him to embark on a treacherous journey to find his father. 

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Commentary, Op-Eds, Opinion

How To Stop Feeling Like The World Is Coming To An End
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Mei Feifei (22A13A) 

What happened on 14 April 2018? Airstrikes took place in Syria. An Oscar-winning director died. And a lawyer set himself on fire. 

Four years on, I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of David Buckel until I started work on this article, even though other cases of self-immolation, such as those of Mohamed Bouazizi or Tibetan monks, stay at the forefront of public consciousness. 

Why, then, has David Buckel’s case faded into obscurity, even as the cause he was protesting against—climate change—looms closer? 

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Commentary

Blast to the Past: An Open Letter to the 1970s Rafflesian Times
Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Faith Ho (22A01A), Jason Sutio (22S06U), Lara Tan (22A01B) and Lim Yong Le (22S03M)

Hey 1970s Rafflesian Times, 

We bet you didn’t expect your musty little publication to make headlines again. Didn’t think you would survive so far into the future, did you?

Well, you didn’t. Just like Pokemon, you’ve evolved: we’re Raffles Press and we’re in charge now. 

We may not have paid advertisements like you did. We may not have a regular print edition (climate change and the lack of funds has caught up to us). And unlike you, our strapping ancestor, we may not write our pieces like Victor Hugo or Jane Austen for our Rafflesian comrads.

Still, we couldn’t help noticing that despite fifty years, some things never change. Let’s get started, shall we? 

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