I hate to do this, but I’m withdrawing from elections.

It’s an ultimatum that was handed down to me. Either one or the other. And, as much as my heart feels for Arts Club, I still have to withdraw.

Firstly, there cannot be a compromise at all that I hold a position on the paper as well as the club. The appearance of conflict of interest is something that the paper takes very seriously, and undermining the objectivity of the paper is as good as destroying it.

Secondly, I did agree to commit to the newspaper for a year, and that came before I agreed to commit to Arts Club. I still strongly feel that I can contribute to both, and I should. However, since the chronological order is such that I agreed to the paper first, logically it follows that the paper has higher priority.

Lastly, I’m taking a course in newsroom management and this paper is a part of it. As an editor, I have to deal with content. If I don’t touch content, I can’t produce articles, and that means I can’t be properly graded.

All said, basically, I don’t have much of a choice. My last chance to do something for students by being an office bearer is gone. I will never be an undergraduate again. Perhaps I can achieve something through the newspaper. However, what I can achieve for the newspaper will not be the same as what I can achieve with Arts Club.

This is something that only active Arts Club members will understand. I came into NUS, and everything that I am today started with Arts Club. The club gave me the opportunity to enter student politics, the opportunity to learn the workings of NUS. Without Arts Club, there will be no Aaron of today.

I merely wanted to go back and end off the way I started. So much has happened in my 3 years here, and I just want to end my undergraduate life the way I started it: with fond memories of my time in Arts Club.

Heaven is cruel indeed.