SST and St Gabriel’s among four schools advancing to ST’s What’s The News? finals

SINGAPORE – The Our Tampines Hub auditorium was transformed on May 14 as students from across Singapore filled the bleachers while 16 teams got ready to show their prowess in current affairs in a colourful setting.

This was the semi-finals of The Straits Times’ What’s The News? quiz competition. Awaiting the teams, each comprising six students aged 15 to 19, were four places in the finals and the chance to win cash prizes.

The inter-school competition, which focuses on current affairs, is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The Central Narcotics Bureau is a partner (CNB).

The semi-finals followed a sports day-style format, where teams faced off in a sequence of telematch games that tested both knowledge and strategic thinking. Mr Sun Kyong, 18, a spectator from ITE College Central, described it as an eye-opening experience.

“Prior to this, I thought it was going to just be answering questions, but they make it very interesting,” he said.

After the semi-finals ended, tension was high as the teams waited for the announcement of the finalists – St Gabriel’s Secondary, Victoria School, Presbyterian High and the School of Science and Technology (SST). This is Presbyterian High’s second finals, after 2025’s inaugural competition.

The four teams will compete for the top prize of $4,000 in the finals on May 26. The second-, third- and fourth-placed teams will receive $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

The Victoria School team members said they prepared for the competition by reading the news every day on ST’s social media channels and memorising facts and figures they came across.

They also emphasised the role teamwork played in their success. Kasibhatla Ayush, 16, said: “What we learnt was that it isn’t just one of us, because it took input from other teammates to get the correct answers.”

Presbyterian High School emphasised the importance of community and morale. Lim Kiak Chi, 15, said of the team’s large entourage of supportive schoolmates: “I think each of our supporters really helped to boost our morale, even when we faced setbacks.”

In the preliminary round, over 6,000 students from more than 70 schools worked individually to attempt a 30-question quiz. With only 30 minutes to complete it, competition was stiff, and the semi-finalists were chosen based on accuracy and time.

In the semi-finals, the teams were split into four zones to compete against each other.

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 a bean bag 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 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.

St Gabriel’s team members’ creativity in using a unique strategy of shuffling forward on their mats made them the only team to successfully cross the finish line in its entirety. The other teams had picked up the mats and handed them down the line.

While some schools felt this went against the spirit of the game, St Gabriel’s had confirmed with the referees beforehand that its strategy would be allowed. The team was applauded for its ability to think outside the box.

On the gamified format of the semi-finals, St Gabriel’s principal, Mr Shaun Lim, 47, said: “My boys love it a lot. And they were very, very happy. I think they love all the games.”

Mrs Tabitha Teo, 42, the head of department of English Language and Literature at Hai Sing Catholic School, said she found the semi-finals a lot more dynamic than the previous round, which followed a more conventional quiz format. “I really see (the students) a lot more involved as compared to the previous experience, answering a series of questions. They are enjoying it a lot more here, and with a lot more collaboration.”

Mr Lim noted the difficulty of recreating a large-scale event like What’s The News? in a school setting. “To do this needs a lot of investment, from creativity in all the different stations, as well as the cost to set up all the logistics.

ST editor Jaime Ho gave a brief address to the schools, congratulating the semi-finalists and mentioning his intention to preserve What’s The News? as an annual event to continue to foster an interest in current affairs among the youth.

CNB’s representative, Mr Kangtai Zhong, commenting on the importance of current affairs, said it “gives youth a deeper understanding of drug issues, including its social consequences and emerging trends”.

His words echoed other efforts by CNB to prevent drug abuse through education. Programmes such as the DrugFreeSG Video Competition go beyond the classroom to bring drug education to life for Singaporean youth, and are part of a larger history of collaboration between CNB and MOE to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.

A travelling showcase – titled Is AI Changing The Way You Think? – will hit the streets of Singapore as part of the effort by What’s The News? to engage youth in current affairs. It will be available to the public at Bishan Library from June 1 to 15 and at Punggol Regional Library from June 16 to 30. It will also stop by Jurong Library from Sept 4 to 15.

What’s The News? will also be organising educational assembly programmes for six selected schools in Term 3 after the conclusion of the finals on May 26.