CCA Events, Commentary, School Life

Founder’s Day 2013: 190 Years of Heritage, and a Culture of Excellence
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Sihan Huang (14S06D) and Lu Jinyao (14A01D)

Photos by Teo Si-Yan of the Photographic Society

“A name that’s stood the test of time

For a hundred and ninety years of history.”

Raffles Institution’s 190th birthday bash was anything but ordinary. Founders’ Day on Saturday, the 27th of July, represented 190 years of history compacted into a ceremony lasting less than 3 hours.  The morning ceremony set the stage for the rest of the day’s events, such as the Teacher Time Capsule (part of RI’s Oral History Project, led by Mrs. Cheryl Yap) in the afternoon and the highly exclusive Homecoming Dinner which took place later that night. So, did it live up to the “Great Expectations” of this year’s school theme? Continue reading “Founder’s Day 2013: 190 Years of Heritage, and a Culture of Excellence” →

Commentary, Op-Eds, Student Issues

How to Save a Life: Hope for Tomarrow 2013
Reading Time: 6 minutes

By Lee Chin Wee (14A01B)

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Did you know that every day, more than 22,000 African children die of acute malnutrition? Or that there are over 450 patients on the National Kidney Waiting List here in Singapore? Or that for a patient diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma, the odds of finding a match from the existing registry of volunteer bone marrow donors is 1 in 20,000? Chances are, you do – every day, we find ourselves bombarded by messages from the latest social advocacy campaign, fighting to grab our attention. We memorize these facts all the time, so they can be regurgitated in the middle of a GP Exam. We walk past posters bearing these sobering statistics without so much as batting an eyelid. Continue reading “How to Save a Life: Hope for Tomarrow 2013” →

Commentary, Op-Eds, Student Issues

Great Expectations: What’s In a Theme, Anyway?
Reading Time: 5 minutes

By Tan Jun Xiang (14S06C) and Bryan Chua (14A01A)

It is everywhere we look: from the massive banners festooned on the parade square to the promotional booklets handed out during Open House. Yet to what extent do we really understand and appreciate the theme that supposedly charts the very direction of our school for the year ahead? In spite of the great meaning and value such themes hold for the school, they have hitherto been little more than decorations on our parade square, left in plain sight but going largely unnoticed and unappreciated.

Continue reading “Great Expectations: What’s In a Theme, Anyway?” →