SPICING UP the NTU food scene: The student entrepreneurs behind NTU’s hottest food options

11.30pm. Notifications rang. Phone screens lit up. Peeling their eyes away from the harsh brightness of their laptop screens, half-awake students lazily reached for their phones, greeted by the message that jolted them out of their daze.

“Hall 12 standby!"

With just a quick glance at their phones, hungry hordes of students began to flock down the steps of their hall, desperately joining the queue that was forming in the carpark. The silence that once loomed over the hallways was abruptly broken by the cacophony of slippers slapping against the ground.

Soon after, the roaring sound of an engine grew louder. Students darted their heads away, dazzled by the oncoming headlights. The Toyota Hiace that everyone was waiting for came into view, before coming to a halt.

The grating sound of the van door sliding open was accompanied by the tantalising scent of sambal and bee hoon. Within minutes, the queue snaked across the carpark.

They were all here at the dead of night for one thing — supper.

Lee Ray Sheng, founder of Raydy Bee Hoon, is the man behind the first supper spot in Nanyang Technological University (NTU). However, there is one thing that Ray Sheng has in common with many of us — he is also an undergraduate at NTU.

While Raydy has become a household name within the NTU community, many may not know of its humble origins.

Vision turned reality

Even before stepping into NTU, Ray Sheng always knew that he wanted to start his own business. The Computer Science undergraduate did not have the slightest clue about what his business would offer.

That all changed during his freshmen orientation camp.

“Back when there were still physical camps, at the end of each day, my seniors would be like, ‘Eh let’s go for supper, let’s go and eat!’” Ray Sheng said.

There was just one problem — there were no supper spots within NTU. To grab supper, his seniors and his batchmates would walk to places as far as Ah Lian Bee Hoon, a dreadful 30-minute walk from NTU. Ray Sheng noticed that they did not mind the inconvenience at all.

In NTU, canteen stalls close as early as 8pm. Anyone who visits canteens past then would only be greeted by metal shutters and unlit signboards hanging above stalls. This leaves many hungry students turning to instant noodles, an affordable staple among hall residents, to satisfy their late night hunger pangs.

Riding on his observation, Ray Sheng was inspired to set up an accessible supper spot in NTU. His shop would operate from 10pm to 4am and “open when everyone else is closed.”

Although Ray Sheng is one of the more recognised student entrepreneurs within the NTU community, he is far from the only one.

Justin Png, a Year 2 Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) student, also owns a food business in NTU. In his freshman year, he started Negative 21 Degrees, a store selling ice cream rolls in Pioneer Hall canteen.

The idea to start Negative 21 Degrees came when he was eating dessert at North Hill canteen, which sells old school classics like the nostalgic red bean flavoured Potong. Justin thought that the “dessert in NTU could do so much better.”

There was nothing exciting about NTU’s dessert options, and Justin wanted to bring something unique to the table. Through his inspiration, he delved deeper into the idea of starting his own business, before setting up his store earlier this year.

Ray Sheng and Justin may have differing inspirations, but they share one thing in common — their ideas both stemmed from their experiences in university.

Disapproving voices

While they themselves were motivated to start their business, not everyone around them was supportive of their venture.

For Justin, the lofty ambition of starting a food business in his first year left many doubting his decision. In particular, this idea did not sit well with his father.

When sharing his decision with his parents, one phrase that his father uttered stood out the most, “You xiao ah! (Are you crazy!)”

Despite some of the discouraging responses, Justin never felt perturbed. Instead, this only spurred him on to pursue his ambition.

“I’m quite stubborn, so if I want to do it, I will do it.”

With their unwavering determination, Ray Sheng and Justin started to turn their respective ideas into a reality.

When reality hits

Even though Raydy Bee Hoon and Negative 21 Degrees were well received shortly after their launch, it was not long before problems creeped in.

Less than a month after the opening of Raydy Bee Hoon, circuit breaker kicked in. As part of Singapore’s safe management measures, local students were forced to move out of their halls.

The fleeting customer base made it clear that opening would bring in nothing but losses. There was simply no business to be made, and Raydy had no choice but to close.

While Negative 21 Degrees was started after the circuit breaker period, Justin has faced his fair share of struggles. When his business was starting out, there was a severe shortage of manpower. Due to his hectic schedule, there were instances where Justin only had 30 minutes to set up his store after class.

More often than not, he did not have the luxury of focusing solely on his store. Being a student and a business owner meant that he had to juggle between two heavy commitments.

“I remember I actually did my lectures in the stall. So in any case, when there is a long queue, I can just turn around and help,” Justin recalled.

In reality, there were multiple occasions where he had to sacrifice his studies due to the rigor of managing his own business.

Cooking up a storm

Despite being thrown into unforeseen circumstances, Ray Sheng was not deterred and even thought of ways to switch up his business’ operational structure. Even after the circuit breaker, he knew that dining restrictions could kick in anytime and he had to think of a way to sustain his business.

The food truck was Ray Sheng’s way of working around the restrictions.

“Opening a food store at that point in time was not very feasible, but with the food truck, I have the whole school to target, not just the Canteen 13 area,“ Ray Sheng said.

The food truck was a huge hit among the student population, but Ray Sheng did not stop there. He challenged himself further and had aspirations to open his own restaurant.

Long queue at Hall 12 in front of Raydy's food truck

Thus, A Hot Hideout, a Mala restaurant located in North Hill, was born. Today, A Hot Hideout is well-known among the student population for its rich and palatable Mala Collagen Soup.

Students are willing to queue for more than 30 minutes just to get a taste, a testament to its success.

For Justin, he unfortunately does not have plans to continue his business after this semester due to increasing rentals. However, his journey as an entrepreneur is far from ending.

“It was a good try, but I won’t stop trying. This won’t be my last business,” Justin shared.

Looking back on their entrepreneurship journey thus far, both Justin and Ray Sheng are immensely grateful for the support they have received.

Particularly, Ray Sheng feels that he owes the success of his businesses to the genuine feedback from the NTU community — something that he finds harder to receive outside of NTU.

“I can imagine on the opening day, if the bee hoon was burnt, my friend will tell me honestly, ‘Wah your bee hoon tastes like cigarettes eh, it’s so burnt.’ But if I open it outside (of NTU), customers will keep it to themselves and never come back again.”

Regardless of how their businesses are doing, Ray Sheng and Justin have definitely diversified NTU’s food scene with their innovations. Having come this far, it is clear they have succeeded in their own ways.

For Justin, while many of his batchmates were still adjusting to the rigor of university, his first business was already in development.

For Ray Sheng, he managed to rise above the setbacks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and went on to expand his business.

Their stories and experiences have gone on to inspire many more students. Today, Ray Sheng and Justin are not the only students who are spicing up the food options in NTU.

The next time a food stall pops up, remember that that the faces behind it may be more familiar than you think.