The team

I vaguely remember that Rendy was the initiator of producing a book to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Raffles Hall, around the middle of 2016. Sonny, Andrew, and I were roped in to ponder over it. We spent more than a year in discussion, with little talk and little action. Along the way, there was the launch of the plaque to mark the history of Raffles Hall at the Bukit Timah campus. Many from Malaysia came for the unveiling of the plaque, rekindling old friendships and exchanging fond memories.

Though I was from Raffles Hall at the Kent Ridge campus, I found amusement and joy listening to the tales narrated by one super senior gentleman, Sivalogue. I first heard his stories at a gathering at the Alumni building at Kent Ridge. He was eloquent and mesmerising. More gatherings ensued, and I saw more of the brotherhood group. Interesting people, all with tales that seemed like light-hearted mischief but by today's standards might seem extreme.

One such unbelievable tale was the 'Panties Raid.' When I first heard of it, I thought they were kidding. I googled it and found the story on the Straits Times. The hall master must have had a hard time answering to the public, who were abhorred by such behaviour from the undergraduates. One wonders how he finally resolved this issue and mitigated the situation.

By October 2017, we had more members joining the editorial team. We gained some traction and started planning more actively. I was eager to get some work done and see how we could gather more information. Finally, in one committee meeting, Rendy put forward the idea of interviewing 30 distinguished personalities who had stayed in the hostel during their undergraduate days or had contributed to the tradition of the hostel. This idea infused new energy into the project, and we began our preliminary interviews with renewed enthusiasm.