This essay is dedicated to Daniel Naroditsky (November 9, 1995 – October 19, 2025). We grieve over the loss of him, and may he watch us from the skies. “Never play for the win, never play for the draw, just play chess!”  Alexander Khalifman What do chess and life have in common? Some might say it’s the inevitable sacrifices or the permanent feeling of a ticking clock, but for me, it’s about initiative. Once, in a game with a powerful opponent, he demanded: “Do you even unders

The girl inside Clara’s head - The prototype - wears confidence like a second skin.  She never trips over apologies. Her silence is a language people lean in to hear. The prototype owns shelves of untouched trophies,  aces every test without a breath. Her paintings hang in quiet galleries, while Clara’s are stuffed behind the bed. Everyone loves the prototype. And Clara is so jealous she could break, because the prototype is the version of Clara  that never learned the shape

Approaching their final days of Year 13, the class of 2020 plastered ‘Guess Who’ posters for different teachers around the school as part of their senior prank day. A poster that stood out to the little Year 8s (now in Year 12!) to this day was this one: Could you guess the teacher in the photo?  For those lucky enough to have her, this could only be one teacher.  Crowned the ‘Most Motherly’ teacher of KGV, Ms Jodi Moran has been an active member of our school community for a

How a chocolatier’s food craving became a global sensation You’ve heard of Dubai Chocolate, but do you really know the whole story? At first glance, it appears to be another typical trend, a luxury item sold solely for the fleeting whims of social media. Little do you know, there’s a story beneath the surface. Dubai Chocolate gained immense attention after being flaunted by influencers all over social media and featured in advertisements for copycat chocolates around the worl

The past weekend saw KGV host the 2025 ESF Computing Conference, also known as ESF CoCo. Planned over six months by students from a number of ESF schools, the event was a major success. With over 250 students from all over ESF in attendance, KGV was filled with bright, creative, and curious minds brought together by a passion for computer science. KGV’s former principal, Mr. Mark Blackshaw, attended the event and gave an intriguing, thought-provoking keynote speech discussing

It started with ads for AI assistive writing software. Then AI-generated books, videos, and pictures started popping up on every Internet space imaginable. Then that amped up to ads purporting to teach me how to make money off a book I can write in 2 minutes with AI. Even in your everyday lives, you’ve undoubtedly encountered people using generative AI to do schoolwork. There’s a spectrum of usage: from initial generation of ideas, to technical/grammatical assistance, to aski

Diwali, one of the 10 biggest festivals in the world, is considered to be an extremely auspicious occasion. Why is Diwali so important to the South Asian community? With hundreds of stories about its origin and importance hailing from over a dozen countries, one reason is most mentioned over others: it’s a way of cultivating a sense of togetherness.  This was most definitely present on October 18, two days before the festival, when KGV put on a Diwali celebration. I remember

READ WITH CAUTION: YOU MAY BECOME EXTREMELY SELF-AWARE Imagine that our brains are made up of a huge network of roads diverging and converging in all directions, with each road leading to different decisions. It can be really confusing for our racing thoughts to know which way to go. In order to avoid the long winding roads, our mind likes to take shortcuts through the help of cognitive biases . To be exact, cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that influence ou

Anyone who’s walked up to the fourth floor math corridor will recognize the colorful paintings that adorn those walls. But have you ever taken a closer look? The first time I did, I froze in my tracks. The paintings were by Mrs Vaze, my own math teacher! It was like discovering her secret double life, yet it made perfect sense - Mrs Vaze is the type of teacher who loves adding mathematical story interludes to our classes, whether it’s about how the Pythagoras theorem was NOT

So you’re probably wondering: how can I get into a good university? If you’re a Y10 or Y11 student in IGCSE, it’s hard to picture interviews, university admissions and acceptance letters flashing on your computer screen. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing either. The good news is, I’m here to help! As I sit here typing away on my last KGV school day, preparing to leave the place that’s served me well for six years, I’d like to tell you how you can achieve the next

; ← this thing. But also: Once, a friend and I had a conversation that veered into our favourite punctuation symbol. My answer was immediate: the semicolon. Generic favourite choice to be sure, but it’s so versatile and elegant that I can’t help it.  So how exactly does one use it? At its simplest, a semicolon is used to link two independent clauses (i.e. able to function as standalone sentences) together. If both of your two halves are complete sentences on their own, they h

Globally, there is an estimation of 1 billion children between the ages of 2-17 have experienced some form of child abuse in the past year. Despite the age of social media, where violent parenting methods are commonly called out for its repercussions, the Hong Kong SWD Child Protection Registry, there’s been an upward trend of over 50% in the number of child abuse cases, an alarming reminder to address the need to eradicate abuse toward children.  What is considered child abu

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While researching for this article, what started as a tentative search for KGV alumni authors turned into an unexpected & inspiring...

One lunchtime, a few friends and I sat around a table, sharing our thoughts on what makes a class truly great or unbearable, and most of...

A couple of weeks ago, all the Year 12 students attended a workshop called ‘The Science Of Learning’ hosted by Dr Jared Horvath. We all...

Celebrity crushes are a rite of passage for all teenagers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you, dearest reader, have one yourself. (You’re...

We’ve all been there. There’s that one holy grail pen that we love to use, our favourite ballpoint, gel, rollerball, or marker. And it...

Some of you may have seen the big, well-designed, bubbly numbers on the wall of the SSC, with the label above; “Last Day of Y13!” This...

I’m sure you’ve all seen the Instagram reels. Social ABG buys boba while listening to Keshi in college. International school kids getting...