Raffles Institution facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Raffles Institution |
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| Address | |
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1 Raffles Institution Lane
Singapore 575954 |
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| Information | |
| Type | Independent |
| Motto | Auspicium Melioris Aevi (Latin) (Hope of a Better Age) |
| Founded | 5 June 1823 |
| Founder | Stamford Raffles |
| Sister school | Raffles Girls' School |
| Chairman | Bey So Khiam |
| Principal | Aaron Loh |
| Gender | Boys (Year 1-4) Mixed (Year 5-6) |
| Enrolment | 4,000 |
| Colour(s) | Green Black White |
| Mascot | Gryphon and eagle |
| Team name | Team Raffles |
| Publication | The Rafflesian Times |
| Yearbook | The Rafflesian |
Raffles Institution (RI) is a famous independent school in Singapore. It was started in 1823, making it the oldest school in the country.
RI offers secondary education for boys from Year 1 to Year 4. For Year 5 and Year 6, it provides pre-university education for both boys and girls. Since 2007, RI and Raffles Girls' School have worked together on the six-year Raffles Programme. This program lets students skip the O-Level exams. Instead, they go straight to taking the A-Level exams at the end of Year 6.
Many successful people have graduated from RI. This includes presidents, prime ministers, and leaders in government and business. Its alumni group, the Old Rafflesians Association, includes former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.
RI also has a high number of students accepted into top universities around the world. These include famous schools like the Ivy League universities in the US and Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) in the UK.
Contents
School History
How Raffles Institution Started
Raffles Institution was founded by Stamford Raffles. He suggested starting "the Institution" on April 1, 1823. Raffles wanted to create a college for the people of Singapore. He hoped it would educate children of local leaders and company workers. He also wanted it to collect and share local stories and knowledge.
Raffles saw this as his "last public act" in Singapore. He believed the school would help "civilise and better the conditions of millions" beyond Singapore. Many important people helped with the plan, including Reverend Robert Morrison. Raffles gave money and got more funds from the British East India Company. He also planned the school's lessons and its board of trustees.
The first RI building was on Bras Basah Road. Philip Jackson designed it. Raffles laid the first stone on June 5, 1823, just before he left Singapore for good. The building took a long time to finish. In 1835, people raised money to complete it. George Drumgoole Coleman then finished and expanded the building.
Early School Years
On August 1, 1834, the Singapore Free School opened with 46 boys. It quickly grew to almost 80 students. When the RI building was ready in 1837, the Singapore Free School moved in. It became the Institution Free School. It started as an elementary school, not the college Raffles first planned.
The school first taught Malay, Chinese, and English. But Malay classes soon closed. The school eventually became an English-only school. In 1856, its name changed to Singapore Institution.
In the 1860s, the school slowly became a high school. In 1868, it was renamed Raffles Institution to honor its founder. J. B. Bayley and R. W. Hullett were important headmasters during this time. They led the school for a total of 50 years.
RI was also the first school in Singapore to accept girls, starting in 1844. In 1879, the girls' section became a separate school, Raffles Girls' School.
Moving to New Campuses
In March 1972, the school moved to Grange Road. The old building was torn down. The Raffles City Shopping Centre now stands there. The library building from the old Bras Basah campus is shown on Singapore's S$2 note.
In 1984, RI was chosen by the Ministry of Education to start a special program. This was the Gifted Education Programme for very bright students.
In 1990, the school moved again. This time, it went to a new campus in Bishan.
Raffles Junior College
In 1982, Raffles Junior College (RJC) was created. It took over the pre-university classes from RI. RJC first opened at Paterson Road. It later moved to Mount Sinai Road in 1984.
In 2004, the six-year Raffles Programme began. This program lets RI students skip the O-Level exams. Instead, they go straight to RJC for Years 5 and 6. At the end of Year 6, they take the A-Level exams. This gives students more time for other activities and deeper learning. The program aims to train future leaders.
In 2007, RI combined its special programs into one Raffles Programme stream. It also started Raffles Academy for very gifted students. This program offers special classes from Year 3 onwards.
In 2005, RJC became an independent school. It moved to a new campus next to RI in Bishan. RJC was the first pre-university school to win the School Excellence Award.
In 2009, RI and RJC joined back together. They became one school again, named "Raffles Institution." This made it easier to run the Raffles Programme and coordinate lessons.
School Spirit and Traditions
RI is part of several school groups and networks. These include the G30 Schools and Winchester Network. It also helped start the Global Alliance of Leading-Edge Schools.
School Motto
The school motto is Auspicium Melioris Aevi. This Latin phrase comes from the family symbol of its founder, Stamford Raffles. The school officially translates it as "Hope of a Better Age."
School Houses
The school has five houses. Three of them are named after past headmasters. They are Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor, and Morrison. Each house has a color:
- ● Buckley: Named after C. B. Buckley, who was the Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
- ● Bayley: Named after J. B. Bayley, a headmaster who helped the school grow a lot.
- ● Moor: Named after J. H. Moor, the school's first headmaster.
- ● Morrison: Named after Reverend Robert Morrison, who helped found RI.
- ● Hullett: Named after R.W. Hullett, who was the headmaster for the longest time (31 years).
Year 1 students are put into houses by their class. Each house has a captain, a Year 4 student, and a committee. The houses compete in sports and other activities. These include the Inter-House Sports Carnival and Dramafeste. Points from these events add up to the House Championship at the end of the year.
Students in Years 5-6 (the college section) also have houses. Their house names combine the RI and Raffles Girls' School house names:
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Buckle-Buckley
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Bayley-Waddle
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Hadley-Hullett
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Moor-Tarbet
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Morrison-Richardson
School Uniform
The school uniform for Years 1 to 4 is all white. It includes a white short-sleeved shirt with the school badge. Younger students (Years 1 and 2) wear white short trousers and white socks. From Year 3, students can choose white short or long trousers. Shoes must be mostly white. Prefects in Years 3 and 4 wear formal black shoes. School ties are only for special events.
For male students in Years 5 and 6, the uniform is the same as for Years 3 and 4. Female students in Years 5 and 6 wear a white blouse and a dark green pleated skirt.
School Discipline
In his book The Singapore Story, Lee Kuan Yew wrote about his time at RI in the 1930s. He mentioned that the headmaster, D. W. McLeod, disciplined him for being late often. An old student from 1956 also wrote that discipline was strict. He said students became good citizens, lawyers, and doctors.
Learning and Activities
Since 2007, RI has offered the six-year Integrated Programme. This program, called the Raffles Programme, is shared with Raffles Girls' School. It allows students to skip the O-Level exams. Instead, they prepare for the A-Level exams at the end of Year 6.
Orientation Programs
Year 1 Orientation Camp
New Year 1 students attend a three-day orientation camp. They learn about the school's culture and campus. They also do activities to bond with classmates and develop leadership skills. Year 4 Peer Support Leaders and prefects help guide them. At the end of the camp, first-year students receive their school badges. This happens at the Junior Rafflesian Investiture Ceremony.
Raffles Leadership Programme
The Raffles Leadership Programme helps students become leaders. All Year 3 students go through this program. It includes workshops and personality tests. It also has a residential part at RI Boarding. Students live at the boarding complex for seven weeks. This helps them learn independent living skills.
Students' Council (Year 5-6)
The Students' Council for Years 5-6 has eight departments. These include Welfare, Communications, and CCA departments. There are also five House Directorates for each house. Each council member also helps organize one or two major school events. These events include National Day, Teachers' Day, and Orientation.
Council members are chosen through an election process. The council is led by a President. Two vice-presidents, two secretaries, department heads, and house captains assist the President.
Co-curricular Activities (CCAs)
Year 1-4 (Secondary School)
RI offers about 40 co-curricular activities (CCAs). These include sports, uniformed groups, performing arts, and clubs.
CCAs are either "core" or "merit." Core CCAs include all sports, uniformed groups, and performing arts. Merit CCAs are other clubs and societies. Every student must join at least one core CCA. Students are encouraged to join a merit CCA too. Some merit CCAs, like the Infocomm Club, can count as a core CCA.
The school's sports teams and uniformed groups often win national competitions. They do well in Red Cross Youth, rugby, National Cadet Corps, and cross-country running.
The performing arts groups also do well in the Singapore Youth Festival. Clubs and societies have won awards too.
Year 5-6 (Junior College)
The Year 5-6 section offers over 70 CCAs. These include sports, performing arts, and clubs. There is no difference between core and merit CCAs here. Students can join up to two CCAs. Only one of these can be a sports or performing arts group.
RI teams did very well in 2011. Performing arts groups won many gold and silver awards at the Singapore Youth Festival. Sports teams won 32 championship titles. Clubs and societies also performed well. The Raffles Debaters won championships. The History and Strategic Affairs Society won awards at international Model United Nations conferences.
School Publications
The Raffles Press is the school's journalism group. It publishes the online student newspaper, Word of Mouth. The newspaper features articles, opinions, sports news, and concert reviews. All staff and most students also receive The Rafflesian Times. This is the school's official magazine.
The journalism group often writes about school life and events. They also cover bigger national issues. In 2015, students started an unofficial funny publication, The Waffle Press. It makes jokes about school events and exams.
Boarding Life
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Raffles Institution Boarding has five blocks. They are named after the five Houses: Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor, and Morrison. Each block can hold 90 students. Staff members live in each block. Several Boarding Mentors oversee the whole complex.
Boarding History
Lee Kuan Yew laid the first stone for the Boarding Complex in 1994. The first students moved in during 1996. In 2006, the Moor block was rebuilt. It became a 13-story twin tower hostel, the Hullett block, in 2007. The old Hullett block was then renamed Moor. The Buckley, Moor, and Bayley blocks house boys in the Raffles Leadership Programme. The Morrison block used to house girls.
School Campus
The Raffles Institution Year 1-4 campus has six main blocks. It covers a large area of 18.65 hectares.
Yusof Ishak Block (Main Building)
The main building is the Yusof Ishak Block. It has offices, staff rooms, lecture halls, study areas, and computer labs. It also has the Main Atrium. This block houses the Year 1-4 General Office and the Raffles Archives & Museum. It was updated in early 2007.
Science Hub
The Science Hub opened in 2008. It has special labs for research, like Xploratory-Labs. It also has Chemistry, Physics, and Biology labs. The Discovery Labs, a Laser Animation/Technology Studio, and the Materials Science Lab are also here. It is connected to the Yusof Ishak Block.
Hullett Memorial Library / Shaw Foundation Dining Hall
The Hullett Memorial Library (HML) is below the Shaw Foundation Dining Hall. A staircase leads down to the library. Lim Boon Keng and Song Ong Siang helped start it. It was named after RI's longest-serving headmaster, Richmond William Hullett, in 1923. The library's official founding marked 100 years since the school started. The HML is the oldest library in Singapore. The National Library of Singapore began from the HML.
Sports Facilities
The school's gym was renovated in 2010. It was used for training gymnasts during the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. The school also has two tennis courts, two basketball courts, two squash courts, and two cricket nets.
After joining with Raffles Junior College in 2009, more sports facilities became available. Sports like floorball, table tennis, judo, and gymnastics can now use the Year 5-6 Campus facilities.
Famous Graduates
Academia
- Tan Eng Chye, President of the National University of Singapore
Arts
- Alfian Sa'at, a writer, poet, and playwright
- Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid, a writer, poet, and artist
- Chandran Nair, a writer, poet, and artist
- Ayden Sng, an actor, host, and musician
Business
- Robert Kuok, a Malaysian billionaire
- Lim Boon Keng, a generous giver and co-founder of OCBC Bank
- Peter Lim, a billionaire and owner of Valencia CF football club
- Andrew Ng, a computer scientist and co-founder of Coursera
- Min-Liang Tan, founder of the tech company Razer Inc.
Politics
- Yusof Ishak, 1st President of Singapore
- Benjamin Sheares, 2nd President of Singapore
- Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore
- Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers
- Lee Kuan Yew, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore
- Goh Chok Tong, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
- David Marshall, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore
- Lim Yew Hock, 2nd Chief Minister of Singapore
- Speakers of Parliament
- Edmund W. Barker, 2nd Speaker of Parliament
- Abdullah Tarmugi, 7th Speaker of Parliament
- Tan Chuan Jin, 10th Speaker of Parliament
- Current Cabinet Ministers
- Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
- K. Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Minister for Home Affairs
- Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education
- Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health
- Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development
- People's Action Party Members of Parliament (MPs)
- Saktiandi Supaat, MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC
- Seah Kian Peng, MP for Marine Parade GRC
- Zaqy Mohamad, MP for Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC
- Workers' Party Members of Parliament (MPs)
- He Ting Ru, MP for Sengkang GRC
- Jamus Lim, MP for Sengkang GRC
- Dennis Tan, MP for Hougang SMC
- Progress Singapore Party Politicians
- Tan Cheng Bock, founder and leader of the Progress Singapore Party
- Leong Mun Wai, non-constituency MP
- Former Politicians
- Ahmad Mattar, former Cabinet minister
- Howe Yoon Chong, former Cabinet minister
- S. Jayakumar, former Cabinet minister
- Lee Yock Suan, former Cabinet minister
- Lim Hng Kiang, former Cabinet minister
- Raymond Lim, former Cabinet minister
- Othman Wok, former Cabinet minister
- S. Rajaratnam, former Cabinet minister
- Balaji Sadasivan, former MP
- Png Eng Huat, former MP
- Viswa Sadasivan, former Nominated MP
- Non-Singaporean Politicians
- Abdul Razak Hussein, 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Aziz Ishak, Malaysian politician
- Michael Chan, British politician
- Sardon Haji Jubir, Malaysian politician
- Tan Cheng Lock, Malaysian politician
- Tony Pua, Malaysian politician
- Ong Kian Ming, Malaysian politician
- Emil Elestianto Dardak, Indonesian politician
Public Service
- Defence
- Ng Jui Ping, 2nd Chief of Defence
- Bey Soo Khiang, 3rd Chief of Defence
- Lim Chuan Poh, 4th Chief of Defence
- Perry Lim, 9th Chief of Defence
- Kirpa Ram Vij, former Director, General Staff of the Singapore Armed Forces
- Education
- Ong Teck Chin, former principal of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
- Wong Siew Hoong, former Director-General of the Ministry of Education and headmaster of RI
- Legal
- T. S. Sinnathuray, Supreme Court judge
- Choor Singh, Supreme Court judge
- Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim, 1st Attorney-General of Singapore
- Walter Woon, 5th Attorney-General of Singapore
- Foreign Affairs
- Albert Chua, former Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations
- Tommy Koh, former Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations
- Others
- Ambat Ravi S Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
- Tee Tua Ba, former Commissioner of Police
Sports
- Au-Yeong Pak Kuan, former national footballer
- Daphne Chia, former national rhythmic gymnastics athlete
- Choo Seng Quee, famous national football coach
- Quah Kim Song, former national footballer
- Soh Rui Yong, two-time SEA Games Marathon Champion
- Cherie Tan, Bowling World Champion
Religion
- Kong Hee, founder and pastor of City Harvest Church
- Shi Ming Yi, Buddhist monk and former chief executive officer of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre
Other Notable People
- Subhas Anandan, a criminal lawyer
- Prince Azim of Brunei
- Lim Bo Seng, a resistance fighter during World War II
- T. A. Sinnathuray, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology
- Robert M. Solomon, Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore
- Leaena Tambyah, a social worker and founder of a school for children with disabilities
See also
- Education in Singapore
