What’s The News? Students compete in ST’s current affairs quiz

The competition was supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE), in partnership with the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

The competition began with a preliminary round in April, where more than 6,000 students from over 70 schools took part in an individual online quiz that tested their knowledge of current affairs.

The top 16 schools advanced to the semi-finals on May 14, where each fielded a team of six members to compete in four telematch games.

The 16 teams were split into four “zones”, with the winners of each zone progressing to the final.

In the first game, teams were given a starting point of 30 bean bags.

They were then asked a series of seven current affairs questions, with two bean bags taken away for each question they got wrong. The teams then had to accurately toss their remaining bean bags into a target net to earn points.

The spirit of competition was alive and well, with supporters yelling their hearts out on the sidelines in every round to cheer on their school.

The teams then had to answer questions to receive large building blocks in a variety of sizes. The objective was to create the tallest, most stable tower they could in two minutes, resulting in moments of hilarity as teams struggled to reach the apex.

In the next round, the students had to use their wits as each team imagined themselves in the role of the Prime Minister’s Office, pitching three solutions to an assigned challenge to a pair of judges. The catch? The solutions had to be represented almost entirely through visuals, with only brief captions allowed to supplement them.

Finally, the teams had to answer 10 true-or-false questions. After answering correctly, they were given just 12 seconds to use mats to cross the game zone without touching the floor and collect a series of hats to earn points. Teams that made it back to the start point successfully are awarded bonuses.

For many, preparation started weeks in advance. Participants said they read the news daily and memorised interesting facts and statistics to get ready for the competition.

Ramya Thanigai Arasu, 16, a competitor from the School of Science and Technology, Singapore, was “very grateful for this opportunity”.

“It made me read more about news happening not only in Singapore but also around the world,” she said.

Speaking to host Rishi Budhrani, the team from Presbyterian High School said that at the end of the day, it was a competition, but the competitors had all learnt something from the event and preparing for it.

Energy was high at the finals at the SPH Media auditorium, as the teams of three warmed up and settled in for the contest.

Teams first competed in a rapid-fire multiple-choice round, with only eight seconds to answer each question. Returning finalist Presbyterian High School ended the round in the lead.

They were then tested on their critical thinking and public speaking skills when they were given just 15 minutes to create a three-minute presentation using a single slide to address a randomly assigned question.

Finally, teams played a short-answer round, choosing from a board of concealed questions with different points – the more points, the trickier the question.

Game cards that allowed teams to redirect the question to another team or double the number of points added a layer of strategy to the game. This led to a nail-biting final round as teams rose and fell from the top in quick succession.

One example was Victoria School, which used a game card to rally from fourth place to an overall second-place finish. A member of the team, Balaprathyush Damodharan, 16, said: “Going from fourth to second really gave us confidence, and I think it gave us motivation to continue. I think it’s a lesson – that we can do it no matter what.”

At the close of the competition segment, Mr Jaime Ho, editor of The Straits Times, emphasised the importance of journalism to the country, saying: “Over the past 180 years, The Straits Times has taken on a role in our society to not just record the important things that happen in Singapore, which eventually become part of our history.  

“Another function is to be a public service to readers to help highlight important issues, interpret them through a Singaporean lens, and ultimately to bring Singaporeans together like we’ve done today, with both commonly held truths and the diverse viewpoints that make us so unique.

“There is no better way to do this than to help all Singaporeans, especially (the youth), to understand the news, and see that it can also be fun.”