By Kristal Ng (16S07C), Tasharani Palani (16S03P), Ian Cheng (16S03M)
Photos by Gabrielle Jeyaseelan (15S06A)
The rumble of thunder marked a sense of foreboding over the spectators in Yishun Sports Hall as the A Division Floorball boys took to the floor. Despite the heavy rain, the hall was filled with Rafflesian supporters as they cheered on the floorball boys.
After drawing with them 1-1 during the group stages,the Raffles Boys Floorball team were once again faced with their fierce competitors, Victoria Junior College. Buoyed by an undefeated streak all season, our floorball team looked set to claim their championship trophy once again.
Our boys definitely proved themselves worthy as defending champions as RI flew to an impressive start with three successive goals within the first period. The first was made by Jun Wei (#17) from mid court, and the mint green ball streaked past the the defenders into the waiting net. The subsequent goals by Zong Wei (#88), and Amirul (#45) were no less impressive, and it invoked roars from the watching crowd.
Amirul and Jun Jie grappling for the ball.
The second period was no less intense with great saves by both goalkeepers, their quick reflexes swooping to scoop up the ball and shut out any attack; Haziq’s (#29) skillful maneuvering was clear as he wrested the ball from VJC players’ grasp. VJC successfully took advantage of a slight falter to slip in a goal at the 10th minute. Nearing the end, our boys seemed to take a more defensive stance, executing practised long distance passing and dribbling.
RI players keeping possession of the ball.
Tensions were definitely high in the last period, with Amirul (#45) getting whalloped on the head three minutes into the game and having to sit out. However the injury was not serious and he resumed play once more. An alarming clash between Jun Wei (#17) and the opponent goalie also drew gasps from spectators on the stands, but both boys recovered quickly, patting each other on the backs in a show of sportsmanship.
Tumbles were not uncommon throughout the whole match.
RI regained control of the arena again as Zong Wei executed a “well practised” move of sweeping around the goal to flick in the ball, two and a half minutes before the end. VJC tried to make a last minute comeback in the last 17 seconds, with an impressive shot that flew in an arc over the players heads into the goal, but it was not enough as RI once again emerged as the A Division Floorball Boys’ Champions.
Later, goalie Jared Tan attributed their success to “the three early goals… we expected this game to be close later on and [when] it got closer, we were afraid [we] cannot score.” But ultimately, “We won thanks to a good team.”
To add on, some floorball members pointed out two players who outdid themselves during the game and generally overall during the season. In particular, we have Shaun Pua (#13) (15S06S), who despite picking up the sport only in J1, managed to improve tremendously within the short few months leading up to the season to “become really, an integral member to the team”, to quote a member who chose to remain unnamed. Apart from Shaun, Zong Wei (#88) was also highlighted for his tremendous efforts and performance during the game, scoring “two amazing wrap goals that really got the crowd going and got our team pumped up”, one to get the ball rolling, and the other that eventually sealed the game for RI. Silas (#22) had a few words of commendation for him: “As he and I rotate in the same positions, I know how hard it is to play as a forward and keep our composure at times. He really showed me today how to keep calm and patient and use his chances well, and refocused after every shift to do better in the next.”
To provide a brief behind-the-scenes glance into the floorball boys’ preparation for the season, they slogged for hours at physical training in thrice weekly sessions, that led up to as late as 8.45pm at times. Aside from that, their coach also ensured that they didn’t neglect their personal mental and emotional development as a member of a team, putting them through reflective thinking to analyze their performances during games and trainings. Even as training intensity and frequency lightened, players still ensured that they were in optimal physical condition via runs and exercises in their own time. Thus, it is with resounding agreement that the team members claim that they were “really proud of the team after seeing their hard work come into fruition”. Lee Minhao (16S03P) mentioned that even as “a non-team member of the CCA, I can’t help but feel honoured to be part of this CCA”.
In retrospect, to summarize one player’s sentiments over the game, we quote Silas Choe (16S03P) who said “All in all, we went out on court and got the job done, and that’s what matters. Honestly, the win was not very important to me at the start, but it just made the privilege of playing the match that much sweeter.”
A Div Floorball Boys with Mr Mag and Mr Chan.
Final Score:
RI – VJC : 4 -2
Scorers:
RI
Tng Zong Wei (#88) – 2 goals
Foo Jun Wei (#17)
Muhammad Amirul Afiq (#45)
VJC
Josiah Lim (#3) – 2 goals
Players:
#1 Sean Jou (15S03L), #3 Julian Quak (15S03B), #7 Kenny Goh (15S07B), #9 Joshua Teo (15S06N), #10 Ethan Lim (15S06E), #11 Ng Juin Jie (15S03G), #14 Nicholas Ho (15S06S) #13 Shaun Pua (15S06S) #16 Daniel Ong (15S06G), #18 Brian Tan (15S06M), #34 Russell Yip (15A01E), #45 Amirul Afiq (15A03A), #60 Justin Tan (15S06O), #77 Clement Chew (15S06N), #92 Gerald Peh (15S07A), #8 Sean Toh (16S03R), #71 Jared Tan (16S03K), #88 Tng Zong Wei (16S03J), #22 Silas Choe (16S03P), #29 Haziq Rased (16A03A), #19 Kamal Hariz (16S07D), #17 Foo Jun Wei (16S03S)
Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feels? Check out Raffles Press’ new column, Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset, and our resident Aunties and Uncles will be glad to help you with your Rafflesian troubles! Submit your questions to tinyurl.com/rafflesadvicecolumn and we’ll give them our best shot.
By Chew Cheng Yu (16S06L)
Photos by Nicholas Chang (16S03K) and Nadya Ang (15S03I)
The one thing that rouses Raffles Jazz like no other is a soulful song. Performers were peppy indeed as they played their opening song – charmingly titled Soul with a capital S.
The Jazz band in the swing of their performance.
Such was the high note that Coffee Blues, Jazz’s annual concert, had started on. They had outdone themselves this year, as tickets had sold out the day before the actual day of the concert on 8 May. Our quirky emcees, Carmen Leong (16S03S) and Melody Kang (15S03C), briefly introduced the history of jazz to the audience: It had originated in African-American communities over a hundred years ago, and is, today, a part of many musical genres that were heavily influenced by the creations of African slaves in America back then. To quote Melody, Jazz is a genre that is unique for its focus on “improvisation and band interaction”, splendidly shown by the various pieces as members shifted the focus onto different instruments now and then.
Melody (left) and Carmen (right) giving an introduction about jazz
In a creative fashion, Jazz’s concert was split into two different segments – the concert segment, and the acting segment. “It’s a Jazz tradition,” said Erica Ngiam (15S03E), chairperson of Raffles Jazz. “Having two different segments [always] helps bond the J1s, who all have to act. History shows that it appeals to the audience, so it’s why we continued it [this year].”
Thus commenced the concert segment, where a rich variety of songs embodying a diverse spectrum of emotions were performed. A slow, steady jazz remix of Someday My Prince will Come from Snow White set the mood for their following slower pieces such as Black Orpheus and then Misty, a jazz-ballad. Of course, there were more upbeat songs in the mix, such as an instrumental piece titled Freddie Freeloader, an acapella arrangement of Mr. Sandman, a vocal piece On Green Dolphin Street, another instrumental piece Five Spot After Dark, and Shining Star, which was as hyped and energetic as their first song. Among their songs was an interesting tidbit – their very own jazz-ified instrumental rendition of We Are, an opening theme song of popular Japanese anime One Piece.
During the break, a fan from the audience commented that “the songs were well done, and the renditions were pretty impressive for a school jazz band,” citing Freddie Freeloader in particular. After the intermission, we were promptly seated for their acting segment, with several gavel bangs and a resounding “Order in the court!” as a teaser for what was to come.
The acting segment was a romantic comedy short featuring Draco Malfoy being sentenced to community service, namely working at a cafe, as part of his punishment for war crimes. As we were brought on a humour filled journey, featuring Draco and his egoistic antics, different jazz songs were performed in relation to the stage of the story – such as Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely when meeting his serious boss, and Jimmy McHugh’s On the Sunny Side of the Street upon reuniting with Victoria despite losing their memories of each other. John Chew Geronimo Jr. (16A01E), who played Draco, maintained that “the acting went fine, and the play served its purpose [of entertaining the audience well]”.
Draco, reluctant to deign himself to being in the presence of Muggles, played by John Chew.
As the play drew to an end, and curtain calls made, there were cheers and yells from the audience for an encore, to which the J2 performers responded with Bobby Hebb’s Sunny; the encore was complete with flashing lights and all the performers lining up below the stage to take another bow. After that dramatic conclusion of the night, the audience left feeling slightly more spirited, and lighter on their feet.
As for our final verdict, Jazz had deserved every moment of glory in their sold-out concert, and all the more so after we found out from Erica that the band had “only had one month for practicing all their songs and acting after the J2s’ first Common Tests”. Owing to this, the band indeed had much reason to be proud of themselves, especially the J1s who had gone all out for their acting in the comedic segment. The concert was overall a success, showcasing skilful acts by talented performers which had, by the end, inspired a sense of nostalgia within those present, for the ‘blue’ days of soulful and chipper music from a more distant, long-forgotten era.
by Justin Lim (16A01B), Adelyn Tan (16A01E) and Huang Jiawen (16S06G)
Photos courtesy of Shitij and Arti
“I personally think that everyone has a story, even if they’re not able to communicate it effectively. That’s our job: to help them get it out.”
Shitij and Arti, the creators of Humans of Singapore!
After hours of navigating around Singapore’s city-centre on a humid Thursday evening, we were joined by Shitij and Arti with the one question on our minds finally answered: Who exactly are the “humans” behind Humans of Singapore (HoS)?
Established in 2013 and modelled after the Humans of New York Facebook Page, HoS has shared numerous stories about the ordinary Singaporean. With 73,767 likes and counting, the page has gained its fair share of attention with humbling, inspirational stories from the average Singaporean.
In lieu of their exhibition from the 15th to 17th of May, Raffles Press is here to help you learn more about the people, workings, and motivations behind HoS, along with some insight into their exhibition at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).
Press: Could you tell us more about yourselves?
Shitij (S): My name’s Shitij. It’s spelled S-H-I-T-I-J but people usually remember the first four letters of my name best– it’s always easier. I came to Singapore in 2008 to do my undergraduate degree at Singapore Management University, and I started working in Singapore four years after my graduation, but about one year into the job I decided that I was bored. My friend then made a joke saying “Why don’t I start Humans of New York for Singapore”, and that was how HoS was born. I had no big epiphany; a joke had spawned the entire project. So it started in January 2013, and it’s been about two years.
This is Arti. She’s the second-at-hand and she helps to take all the rest of the pictures.
Arti (A): I came to Singapore five and a half years ago to study. I studied in Lasalle and I took Communications, Design, and Advertising. Photography was always a part of my life and it was never something that I needed a reason to pick up. My dad used to be a photographer so I grew up with his influence, surrounded by cameras and all.
After school, I left off from photography because I started working, and that is what work does to you – it makes you give up what you truly love. I was working at an advertising agency, and after a year I started hating myself because my life gradually became something that had nothing to do with painting or pictures. Up until my second year in Lasalle, I used to paint one painting daily, and take pictures every month, and do all these things I loved. But during that one year of work, 365 days of my life was deprived of paintings and books. So I felt horrible, which was why I started getting in touch with him (Shitiji: I kept putting it off until a year later). In the year that he delayed replying back, I was miserable.
Shitiji: Sorry, I was super lazy when it came to following up on her request. She kept asking if there was anything that she could help with. This is how it all happened: basically I ran into her one day and the next day she was like: Do you need help with Humans of Singapore blah blah blah.
Arti: Before that he had posted my picture on Humans of Singapore once!
Shitiji: Then a year later she was still asking and one day I was just: yeah, let’s meet. Since then she’s been pretty good.
Press: How do you balance your work life and HoS? Has managing the page has become a recreational activity?
S: We dedicate our weekends to interviewing and photographing people for HoS, and work on regular workdays. As for whether HoS is a recreational activity: Yeah, kind of. It is a glorified hobby, in my view. It started out as a nice past-time, then it became a hobby, then a glorified hobby.
A: Now we’ve become used to doing it. To me, every Saturday is now like a Humans of Singapore day. It has become some sort of a routine.
Press: How does HoS work? Do you just go onto the streets to start interviewing people?
S: Pretty much. Despite our four-man team, the process since the time I started insofar has been the same: We go out, we walk into the streets with our cameras, we approach completely random people and we say, “Hi, would you mind if I took a picture of you? It’s actually for a photography project.”
If they say yes, then we take a picture, we show it to them, and then we tell them, “Before you run off, I’ll quickly explain the project. What I do is, first I ask for a picture, then it’s followed by a deep, insightful conversation for five minutes. So do you guys have five minutes?” And usually people do have five minutes. Once they say yes, I just pepper them with questions.
Usually I don’t ask them what they do or where they’re from, unless they feel really comfortable. I go straight to the questions, and based on their responses I dig deeper. So if I ask “What was the happiest moment of your life”, normally people would say something like “When my child was born” and so on. But then I ask what made it the happiest moment of their life, and then you tend to get a more flavoured response. That’s pretty much the process for the other team members as well. So they have tuned it a little to their own tastes, but roughly speaking that’s what we do.
Press: Was it easy to get such thought-provoking answers from the beginning?
S: For the questions, I already had a set of ideas from Humans of New York, because he has asked a lot. I just took those ideas, and thought, let’s try and apply those to Singaporeans and see what happens. And those questions didn’t run out. The question was more of how to approach people, what sort of body language I should have. When I first started, I would be like “Hi, um, would you mind if, um, I take a picture of you, uh…”. There was a lot of skepticism coming from yourself, and that reflects in your body language, and that’s why people are uncomfortable.
But over time I started becoming more comfortable. The moment my body language changed, the responses of people changed as well. So the moment I started becoming more confident, people started responding better. And I guess that was the process. Which is weird, because some of the other people on the team have been super comfortable from day one. I took a lot of time, but those guys, as soon as they got in, were like, done. They were super easy about it. So it depends. I took some time, other people didn’t take as much time.
A: I think it happens when you ask the person the right question. Yes, a lot of people like talking and a lot of people don’t; I usually don’t like talking, and it is ironic that I do this, but when somebody talks to me about photography or some other things that I like, I will often strike up a conversation with them. So I think it is about the direction of the conversation and how to hit the right spot.
Press: What was your most memorable encounter?
S: The one with Fel stands out, because it wasn’t just her story: it was the fact that we kept in touch after that as well. First was the story: she’s a single mother running a business of luxury jewelry, which I thought was pretty interesting. Secondly, it got an amazing response. Thirdly, once she herself saw the response, she was very happy about it and she communicated with me and said “Thanks a lot, I had a lot of sales”. I could literally see the impact of the post going viral on her business. That is something that I like. Later on she met me, and we discussed how it was affecting her business and so on. Then every time someone comes to me for stories, I’ll just refer to [her] as well because she’s one I can see deserves a lot of help. That’s why it remains the most memorable encounter for me, because firstly, she’s very responsive. And secondly because you can actually see the benefit, you can actually see it happening. It happens for a lot of other businesses I’ve covered as well, and it’s not for profit or anything.
The picture of Fel’s story (link to her story above) that helped HoS attain a spike in their viewership.
A: For me, it had to be an encounter with this Filipino lady who had been living in Singapore for ten to fifteen years. She was a single mum, and she felt quite strange about her relationship with her son, because of how he was distancing himself from her– he was around thirteen, or fourteen. You know, that’s how teenagers are all the time. Then when the HoS talked it out with her, she said, “Last summer, this happened and now I feel like I’m closer to him…” It was one of those stories where she realised halfway through the conversation that she was not that bad a mum, and she should be proud of herself, because she had always doubted herself. To me, that conversation helped her to realise that she was doing a good job.
Press: So is the impact you’re making on the lives of these people what keeps you going?
S: Pretty much. It’s two-sided; I go out and take pictures, and I see the response. So you can take pictures, but you can only do that for so long before you want to receive some sort of recognition. You want to see that people are actually seeing this, and discussing this. Even if it’s a negative reaction, I don’t really mind, as long as there’s some discussion around it. I want that to happen. The follow-up on the pictures is what keeps me going.
A: I think Shitij looks at it more in terms of what you can do after taking the picture and how people can help. For me, maybe because I haven’t spent as much time [working on the page], it revolves more around the experience when I talk to people, and the impact it has on them. A lot of times, people just tell us something really emotional: deep dark secrets which I wouldn’t myself tell strangers. It’s kind of surprising. But every time they say it, it just makes it feel like they just had to get it out. Whenever that happens, I feel like, “Oh, at least I’ve helped him talk it out”. That makes us feel like it’s helping them in some way.
Press: Do you think there is a certain way Singaporeans stand out amongst the responses, in contrast to Humans of New York or Paris?
S: That is a good question. I never really thought about this that much. I guess it has less to do with the pictures themselves and more to do with the responses to the pictures, in my opinion. Because I’m sure that if Humans of New York came here, they will get similar responses from New Yorkers. It is more to do with what people respond to. So my view is that Singaporeans tend to respond a lot more to the underdog stories and things that are out of ordinary and not usually seen in the normal perspective. For example, when you talk to a student from SMU, they might talk about jobs, but that doesn’t necessarily stand out because they are things we Singaporeans are familiar with. So something which they haven’t heard before, something super out of ordinary, would get a response. For example. the lady at Changi airport whose story we posted a few days ago– the cleaner– that is something that people don’t usually hear about and talk about, and that’s what people around here respond more to. Whereas if I make a comparison to Humans of New York, I would say that on average, people respond to every story.
A: I don’t think it’s every story, although they do respond more to everyday situations. So there was this one story that stuck with me, I don’t even know why! It was basically this little baby in a stroller with his dad and the caption was something like: “We woke up today at 5 and we are sorry.” That’s something that is so usual. It’s not about underdogs, not particularly outstanding, and I am sure a lot of people do that. But you know, it’s just so sweet and nice and relatable. Those kind of things don’t get picked up here as much. perhaps because people are just looking for more out of ordinary content not commonly covered in the news. Maybe it has something to do with the whole Singapore media scene- they don’t report a lot of stories about poverty or cleaners. So people turn to social media or pages like Humans of New York that cover things that are not in the paper. Maybe it’s that.
Press: Tell us more about your exhibition!
S: NAFA has a course on art curation and they approached us to ask if they could curate some of our pictures and use them as part of the exhibition. That was how the whole process started. They are trying to select 15 to 16 extraordinary stories and showcase them. On our part, we are trying to bring this project to offline mediums and see how people will react. It’s from the 15th-20th of May, and it is a walk-in exhibition of sorts. Unfortunately, I won’t be there as I have to fly to Hong Kong but Arti will be there. There will be both her pictures and my pictures.
The poster for HoS’ exhibition at NAFA, do check it out for exclusive stories and photos!
Our conversation ended here, with a casual chat about our personal lives after this point. Clearly, Shitij and Arti have left us with a great deal of wisdom: the true value of each person’s stories. Through their work, they’ve spread joy, shared times of struggles, positively impacted the lives of many, and provided a listening ear for those in need of one– all out of sincere passion for their craft.
Humans of Singapore will be holding their exhibition at NAFA Campus 2 on the 16th and 17th of May. Do visit their page for more insights into the lives of everyday Singaporeans, or to show them some appreciation for the work Shitij and Arti have put into sharing each one of these stories!
Photos by Hee Xin Wei (15S03I) and Nadya Ang (16S03D)
The team huddled together before the game.
On the 8th of May, the Raffles Softball A Division Boys team played their national school championship finals against ACS(I). Despite the stormy weather and showers before the game, the boys looked excited and ready to play. RI was undefeated thus far, and had beaten ACS(I) in the preliminary rounds by a landslide victory of 9-0. There was a strong showing of support from alumni and schoolmates alike as many looked forward to seeing RI battle against ACS(I) as the defending champions.
To give some context: softball is a complicated game but simply put, consists of 5 innings each divided into two halves. The first half sees one team bat and try to score runs, while the other team occupies the field and tries to record 3 outs. In the second half, the teams reverse their roles. The team that scores the most runs (points) wins the game.
The defensive innings were unremarkable early in the game – Edward Lee (15S03K) struck out the first 3 batters easily to hold ACS(I) to no runs. Now it was RI’s turn to score: though Ye Zi An (15S03D) managed to bring Jonathan Chua (16S06D) back home to score our first run, we were unable to capitalize on this momentum, and the first inning ended 1-0 to RI.
Edward Lee pitching
Urged on by RI’s batting, the batters from ACS(I) fought back valiantly. ACS(I) made the first hit of the game in the second inning, but Benjamin Loke (16S06F) made a diving stop to prevent the runner from advancing further. More hits ensued, but thankfully, tight fielding and solid defensive plays by RI ended the inning with no runs from ACS(I) as we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Offensively, we were aggressive; after being cornered at 2 strikes, Howe Lee (15S03U) hit a lead-off homerun, Hugo Tay (15A01A) pulled off a successful steal, and to cap it off Cher Wee Zheng’s (16S05A) hit to the outfield brought Hugo back home for yet another run.
The fielders managed to shut out ACS(I) again in the third inning, and were eager to increase the score difference – which they did. With Daryl Kow (16S06R) on base, Andrew Tan (15S07B) hit another homerun, bringing both Daryl and himself in for 2 runs, as supporters belted out loud strings of cheers. The situation repeated itself as Hugo hammered the ball past the ACS(I) short-stop – Howe (who was on base) used this opportunity to score yet another run.
ACS(I), desperate to fight back, managed to get a lead-off hit that went clear over the fielders. A series of pitching errors then lead to two more runners on base, and the bases were now loaded. The next hit drove the ball past the fielders, and one run from ACS(I) came in. Was ACS(I) mounting a comeback? The tides seemed to be shifting in their favour, but sharp fielding on our side prevented this. A quick and accurate throw from Zi An prevented a run from scoring while Benjamin easily fielded a ball for the third out. RI managed to hold ACS(I) to one run despite the precarious situation.
Daryl Kow swinging at a ball
Then came the 4th inning. With two runners on base, Daryl whacked the ball past the short stop, and both ran home for 2 runs; another hard hit from Howe lead to Daryl and Andrew running home for our 9th and 10th runs. Now the winning run was on second base – if the score difference was larger than 10, the game would have ended there without a need to play the last inning. Raffles was poised to win the championships, with just one out, and 2 runners on base. Wee Zheng then stepped up to the plate and drove the ball past the fielders, bringing Howe home to end the game with a final score of 11-1 to Raffles.
A photo of the team with coaches Barathan Ariezstinger (extreme left) and Farhan Harahap (extreme right)
RI consistently got on base through their impressive batting and running, while Edward’s indomitable pitching was key to RI’s defence as he struck out 7 batters in a mere 4 innings. Even though RI won the finals with an arguably better scoreline than the previous time they faced ACS(I) (9-0 to RI), the team still had high expectations for themselves. In the words of Coach Farhan, “The defence could be a bit better, I expected no runs from the other team.” One may think that winning means everything in sports, but RI has proven this to be wrong – the team put in long hours of training, of sweat and toil, not to prove that they are the best, but so that they could say they did their best, and the results will speak for themselves. This sentiment is echoed in the words of teacher mentor Ms Lynette Soh as well, who was impressed by the match and said, “They did very well, and I’m proud of them.”
Vice-captain Joshua Tam (15S06N) sums it up nicely: “Today was a good game, and I think we all played very well. There were some hiccups, but we gave it our all and it was the best game of our season.” And indeed, what a compelling win it was. We at Raffles Press wish the softball boys all the best for their future competitions following their spectacular season this year!
Scoreline by inning:
First inning: 1-0 to RI
Second inning: 3-0 to RI
Third inning: 6-0 to RI
Fourth inning: 11-1 to RI, RI wins by mercy rule (score difference larger than 10)
List of players:
Daryl Kow (16S06R), Russell Boon (16S03S), Cher Wee Zheng (16S05A), Mukund Bala (16S06O), Tien Chun (16S03F), Benjamin Loke (16S06F), Jang Yu Joon (16S06I), Jonathan Chua (16S06D), Joshua Chan (16S06O), Jorrell Low (16S06H), Ye Zi An (15S03D), Joshua Tam (15S06N), Andrew Tan (15S07B), Howe Lee (15S03U), Hugo Tay (15A01A), Edward Lee (15S03K)
