Aunt Agony & Uncle Upset: The Importance of VIA

Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Liu Yong Zhe (23S03H, Peer Helper) and Sabrina Tong (23S03Q, Peer Helper) 

Cover Image by Johnathan Lim (23S03M)

Your resident Aunties and Uncles are back with our Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset column, this time as a collaboration between Raffles Press and Peer Helpers’ Programme (PHP)! Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Submit your confessions to tinyurl.com/RIAAUU and we’ll give them our best shot. This column will be published at the end of every month. 

How important is doing VIA for scholarships, university applications and etc?

Troubled Timmy

Dear Troubled Timmy,  

Let’s get straight to the point. You came here to find the answer to the question that plagues every JC student while they mug for their A-Levels, arguably the most critical examination in their lives: how important is doing VIA? We’ve all heard the horror stories of people accumulating dozens of hours of VIA, and perhaps you’ve been feeling a little inadequate that you can’t do the same for there are only 24 hours in a day. But rest assured, for it is not the be-all and end-all of things.  

In fact, there is no straightforward answer to your question, since the importance of VIA varies in different scenarios. The short answer is that VIA is important, but not a golden ticket to success. 

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Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset: Your Plastic Friendships are Biodegradable

Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Johnathan Lim (23S03M) and Zhang Shuhan (23S03M, Peer Helper)

Cover image by Johnathan Lim (23S03M)

Your resident Aunties and Uncles are back with our Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset column, this time as a collaboration between Raffles Press and Peer Helpers’ Programme (PHP)! Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Submit your confessions to https://tinyurl.com/RIAAUU and we’ll give them our best shot. This column will be published at the end of every month.

“What’s the key to sustaining long-term friendships & being authentic around friends?”

Real Riley 

Dear Real Riley, 

You come to school. You see your classmates in the corridors so you wave enthusiastically, like you are excited to meet them. Well, you’re not that excited, but it doesn’t really matter right?

Continue reading “Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset: Your Plastic Friendships are Biodegradable”

Pongal Festivities: A Celebration of Harvest 

Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Shreya Singh (23S03C)

Vibrant hues, soft flowers and the fragrance of warm pongal; this is how the festivities began for the Pongal Celebration organised by the Indian Cultural Society (ICS) on 27 January.

In the event that you don’t quite understand what Pongal is all about, fret not! Upon interviewing some of the ICS members, I learnt that Pongal is a Tamil Hindu festival to celebrate and express gratitude for the bountiful harvest for the year. 

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RI200 Preview: Festival of Ideas

Reading Time: 2 minutes

By Raphael Niu (23A01A) 

For a while in 2022, it felt like the world had no good news to offer.

Over 8 million refugees fled west as Russian shells pummelled Ukrainian cities. Devastating monsoon floods in Pakistan wiped out 900,000 homes. Back in Singapore, relentless inflation squeezed the incomes of families already hit by pandemic lay-offs and pay cuts. With headlines dominated by doom and gloom, it is easy to be desensitised and to tune out from current discourse.

At first glance, the Festival of Ideas, organised as part of RI’s bicentennial celebrations, might appear to be just another symposium about the world’s problems. However, I was struck by the Festival’s commitment to exploring intersections: between issues, between sectors, and between forms.

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A Level Results 2023: Ground Sentiments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Saara Katyal (23S05A), Tay Yu Ning (23S06E) and Venkatesan Ranjana (23A01D)

Photos courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society

“They’re going that way—that way’s faster!”

RI’s Y7s, no longer clad in white and green school uniforms, could barely contain their excitement as they streamed into the Multi-Purpose Hall to collect their A Level results on the afternoon of February 17th. 

Continue reading “A Level Results 2023: Ground Sentiments”