Founders Profile
Mr. Tng Yew Beng, Ming [Founding Teacher, Ruhan Nexus] 汤友明老师
In his young days, Yew Beng undertook a full undergraduate programme in Australia, first in Sydney and then Melbourne. It was then that his passion for the Sciences was rekindled, as he experienced first-hand how Biology, particularly Biochemistry, was taught, learnt, and enjoyed by both lecturers and students alike. This motivated him to undertake a research project in Neuro-toxicology that greatly impressed his research supervisors, thereby adding another High Distinction to his academic achievements prior to graduation. Since then, Yew Beng has worked in the fields of Food Microbiology and Environmental Public Health, whilst earning for himself, on a part-time basis, separate international certifications in Fitness and Aqua Instruction. A Hwa Chong alumnus, he also picked up Classical Singing from where he left off in the college choir as its Bass Baritone, and started to take private lessons from opera singers residing in Singapore and Australia – a pursuit that remains with him to this very day.
Several years later, Yew Beng decided to read a Master of Arts in Brisbane, where all his subjects were on Broadcast Journalism and English Language and Literature. Upon returning to Singapore, he worked as a Broadcast Journalist with MediaCorp News and Channel NewsAsia, where he produced and narrated news and current affairs stories mainly in Mandarin Chinese. Thereafter, he took up a tertiary programme in Chinese/English Linguistics and Translation, and successfully obtained Accreditation as Professional Translator in these languages. At this juncture, he was working full-time as both a bi-directional Chinese/English Translator and Trainer in Professional Development. Besides interpreting for other workshops, he personally conducted workshops on Sustainable Development and Environmental Management to industry professionals from Singapore and the Asia-Pacific countries.
After moving back to Canberra, Australia, he took up freelance translating and interpreting assignments whilst working towards a Master of Teaching degree with coursework, practicum and research. At this stage, Yew Beng developed an academic interest in Educational Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology, whilst also teaching Mandarin Chinese to working adults at the Australian School of Contemporary Chinese. After the PGDE phase of MTeach, Yew Beng underwent research training in Education and scored a High Distinction in the relevant subjects. He was also awarded an overall Distinction for his Master’s thesis, where he studied and made recommendations to Qualitative Research Methods in student engagement and educational outcomes.
After being conferred his second Master’s, Yew Beng relocated to Cairns of Far-North Queensland and taught in a K-12 state school, thereby widening his teaching repertoire to include a wide variety of subjects across different year levels. Subsequent to his teaching contract as a Beginning Teacher, he moved on to probation, then full-time permanency, and finally Full Registration with the Queensland College of Teachers. Yew Beng’s knowledge and skills as a Classroom Teacher had constantly been honed and validated by the rigours of professional assessment in Australia, where teachers earn their trust and respect from the public through a crucial process of on-the-job evaluation and improvement.
Yew Beng has had more than 10 years of experience in professional development, classroom teaching and educational research that spanned both Australia and Singapore. To date, he has taught in numerous adult-learning centres, Australian state schools, and local private institutions and MOE schools and junior colleges. Yew Beng strongly believes that every child and youth be given an all-round academic, cultural and foundational education till senior adolescence, so as to fully prepare him or her for the challenges of adulthood – as a quality person, not just for one’s working career. This is the raison d’etre of Ruhan Nexus, a developmental space for students to relish the joys of learning, as well as an eternal bastion, and beacon, of the truths in Education.