Dunman High School (DHS) yesterday narrowly edged out two teams from Raffles Institution (RI) to take the winning spot, in the closest fight so far of this year's The Straits Times-Ministry of Education Current Affairs Quiz season.
The DHS team won with 150 points, while both RI teams came in at 140 points. The St Andrew's Junior College (SAJC) team rounded up the group at 30 points.
Although it was a close fight to the end, with one of the RI teams taking the lead at one point, the DHS team held on to their lead. Ryan Lim, 16, a member of the DHS team, said: "We can gain some knowledge on the world around us through this current affairs quiz."
They answered all the questions they chose correctly, but endured two 30-point losses when two opponent teams used on them the "Sabo King" power card, which forces an opponent team to answer its question on their behalf.
Though all four teams did not specifically prepare for the game show, they kept up with current affairs consistently.
All but one of the teams also used another power card, the Shout In card, where they could poll the audience for an answer. On using the card, Bebin Joseph, 17, from SAJC, said: "I hope we can trust you guys."
The audience, comprising mostly students from DHS, gamely yelled out the correct answers even for teams from other schools, which earned a big "thank you for helping us", from the SAJC team.
The winning team took home $600 worth of vouchers, and the other participating teams received $150 worth of vouchers.
Preceding the round was a talk by ST senior correspondent Goh Eng Yeow, who spoke about changes in the financial sector and what they would mean for students seeking a career in the financial industry.
Students asked a range of questions, from how youth could deal with the challenges automation presented, to the implications of the rise of fintech, the technology that supports financial services.
Said Mr Goh: "What the students said showed they were very sharp."
Co-organised by The Straits Times and the Ministry of Education with Singapore Press Holdings Foundation as its presenting sponsor, The Big Quiz promotes an understanding of local and global affairs among pre-university students. It is in its sixth year. The next round will be held at Nanyang Junior College next Wednesday.
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