Space Out
At the age 20, find out how a full-time NTU undergraduate paces his commitments, while handling his entrepreneurial business in his schedule.
Story by: Elisa Lioe
Photos by: Elisa Lioe, Lee Ray Sheng
The Food and Beverage (F&B) industry is no stranger to Lee Ray Sheng. From a young age, Ray Sheng had already begun to work and gain exposure from F&B related companies such as McDonald’s and Grain. Yet these experiences were no temporary stopovers, but stepping stones in his growth in innovation and enterprise.
In his second year of study in Computer Science, Ray Sheng had bigger things in mind than just completing his degree. At just 20 years old, the full-time Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduate founded his first business in the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry – a bee hoon stall.
RAYDY Bee Hoon, NTU’s first midnight supper spot located in the campus’s canteen 13, was started with the intention of serving hungry students living in the university’s residence halls especially late at night.
Being a hall resident himself, Ray Sheng often found himself travelling out of campus past midnight with his friends to eat. As there were no supper options available on campus, they frequented a nearby bee hoon stall for food. “I realised that there was a very big market for supper in NTU,” Ray Sheng recalled.
Feeling inspired, he began research and development for his business. After seeking advice and feedback from experienced cooks and closed ones who had tried his food, Ray Sheng ventured out to start his F&B business in the canteen right beneath his hall residence.
By default, studying full-time in one of the top universities in the world comes with great expectations and academic pressure. “People always ask me, when do I even find time to study, or when do I find time to enjoy myself?” Ray Sheng admitted.
RAYDY Bee Hoon’s operating hours begins late in the night, from 10pm to the wee hours of the morning. With this schedule, juggling the management of his business on top of the demands of his undergraduate studies, is definitely no easy feat. Yet, this did not deter Ray Sheng from going a step further to play for the school’s floorball Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) team, as well as the Singapore floorball league externally.
Now 21 and a year into his business, Ray Sheng has expanded his start-up into three businesses. RAYDY Bee Hoon, RAYDY Prawn Noodles and A Hot Hideout - Ray Sheng’s newly opened Mala Tang restaurant.
Ray Sheng maximises his time and experiences by deriving the potential to learn, apply and enjoy in every opportunity. “I don't just learn from school, but also from my businesses,” he said. The Computer Science student applied his knowledge in data analytics to elevate the business.
Creating an app that allows his staff to have a “prediction of the amount of food to prepare” for the food truck each night, the finances in the business are well accounted for. In his ability to apply and learn, Ray Sheng finds joy through the challenge of juggling his daily schedule and admits he views his work as a form of leisure as well.
So how does Ray Sheng pace out his time for classes, work, revision, entertainment, family time and still having sufficient sleep? He believes it comes down to habit building and “allocating the right time slots for the right things”. Motivated by the accomplishments he is able to achieve in a regular day, Ray Sheng feels it inspires him to do more and have better time management.
Although he agrees his schedule can be cramped and challenging, his advice is to not be deceived by it. “There's a lot of rewards behind this, more than just physical rewards,” he added. “You learn a lot from each experience by doing so much!”
