Ms Chuah Soon Soon

Chuah Soon Soon is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Transcultural Studies, Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore). She has over 20 years of teaching experience in higher learning and is effectively tri-lingual, being fluent in English, Chinese and Malay, and is equally conversant in Hokkien and Cantonese dialects. Soon Soon holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Mass Communications. She also has a Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) from the British Council. She has taught Introduction to Mandarin to non-native speakers and is currently specialising in cross-cultural studies at Temasek Polytechnic. Prior to joining academia, she was a public relations practitioner, worked on translations and experienced doing business in China. This award-winning Chinese language author and poet likens the learning of a new language to Nike’s famous slogan, “Just Do It”, adding that native speakers are generally appreciative of others making the effort to learn their language.

Mr Wang Yong

Wang Yong is a Manager at the Centre for Life Skills, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore) and he’s been teaching and developing communication skills subjects for over a decade. Wang Yong is a native Mandarin speaker and graduated from Hebei University of Economics & Trade (China) with a Bachelor of Economics. He received his Master of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore. In addition, he holds a Teaching in Higher Education Certificate (THEC) and a Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA). In China, he worked in a Chinese construction company with responsibilities covering project management and risk control and was deployed to Bangkok and Kuwait to participate in projects. Before joining Temasek Polytechnic, Wang Yong was an Assistant Manager with Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), facilitating training workshops and co-mediating commercial disputes. He was also on the panel of Associate Mediators. Wang Yong believes that learning a new language is like running a marathon. As the famous Chinese saying goes 千里之行始于足下which translates into “A thousand miles begins with a single step”. So he encourages everyone to go forth and take the first step.