CCA Previews, CCA Previews 2020, Commentary, Please Mind the Platform Gap

CCA Previews ’20: Bridge Club
Reading Time: 2 minutes

By Bridge Club

“No matter where I go, I can always make new friends at the bridge table.” – Martina Navratilova

Perhaps you are more familiar with the simpler, more casual version of bridge commonly played at social gatherings, called floating bridge—abound with sub-4-point washes, hysterical bidding, confused cardplay and random partner calling. But we don’t do that here. With an enormous inherent luck factor, floating bridge isn’t much different from gambling. It… isn’t a hardcore game of skill and intelligence. Where’s the challenge? Continue reading “CCA Previews ’20: Bridge Club” →

CCA Previews, CCA Previews 2020, Commentary, Please Mind the Platform Gap

CCA Previews ’20: Computer Science Club
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Stanley Benjamin Yukon (20S03M), Vice-Chairperson

Amazon has nearly no stores.

Uber owns almost no cars.

Facebook creates no content and Bitcoin (as we all know) has no physical coins.

However, millions of people are willing to fight tooth and nail for shares in these imaginary entities.

 Saying the internet and computers have revolutionised the world is nothing short of an understatement; they form the very backbone of modern civilisation. Chances are, you have absolutely no idea how they work. But it’s okay! We didn’t either! (Some of us still don’t.)

 That’s why here at Raffles Computer Science Club (CSC), we dedicate two hours of our lives every Wednesday into discovering the technicalities of things such as Python (a programming language), computer architecture, web development and basic cyber security tools. We may even decide to start a course on neural networks and machine learning.

Continue reading “CCA Previews ’20: Computer Science Club” →
CCA Previews, CCA Previews 2020, Commentary, Please Mind the Platform Gap

CCA Previews ’20: Raffles One Earth
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Christine Sim (20S07A), Chairperson

As the merciless sun beats down on our frail human bodies, we point up to the sky and berate the heavens for subjecting us to such agony. Oh, the horror of being subjected to yet another unpredictable month of soaked sneakers and sweat-drenched blouses!

Hold that thought though, it’s just a reality check.

For global warming.

Or not. 

Jokes aside, we here at One Earth are determined to turn our climate woes into productive energy—mainly through self-initiated advocacy projects. Or you can just bask in the glow of having a closely-knitted family of nature-lovers.

To put it simply, we are a CCA that focuses on environment-related service. If you are reading this, we (hopefully correctly) assume that you have an interest in environmental issues and are looking to further your passion, of which we are proud to be your medium of choice.

Continue reading “CCA Previews ’20: Raffles One Earth” →
Arts, Commentary

Homesick: On Longing and Belonging

Reading Time: 10 minutesBy Sophia He (20S03H) and Valerie Tan (20A01E)
Photos courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society

The Oxford dictionary defines being homesick as “experiencing a longing for one’s home during a period of absence from it”. Raffles Players, in their year-end production of 2019, defines homesick as “a dysfunctional family stuck under one roof for 10 days due to a SARS quarantine”. In this adaptation of Alfian Sa’at’s 2006 play Homesick, Raffles Players brought together the complex weave of family and ancestry, kinship and brotherhood, identity and belonging, to deliver their audience two nights of contagious fun in our very own Theatre Studies and Drama Room (TSD). Continue reading “Homesick: On Longing and Belonging” →

CCA Previews, CCA Previews 2020, Commentary, Please Mind the Platform Gap

CCA Previews ’20: Netball
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Yu Jiawei (20S03J), Ashlyn Poon (20S06Q), and Gladys Chia (20S03G)

Raffles Netball: we are known for being noisy wherever we are. You can hear us singing or bantering in the cages or the benches (aka the netball table) before training begins, dancing very loudly in the cages for warm-up and having numerous chill runs after training sessions! Our screams can be heard miles away from the toilets during our ice bath after matches and even our day-to-day ‘hello’s around school are jarring.

But our noisiness is nothing but a reflection of the strong bond between each and every member of the team. Raffles Netball consists of a humble 14 people in both J1 and J2, making us one of the smallest sports CCAs in RI. However, our small number only contributes to the closeness of the team, and we strongly believe in “small but fierce”. These strong bonds extend past our 2 years in RI, where seniors that have graduated still come down to support the RI team whenever they are free.

Continue reading “CCA Previews ’20: Netball” →