13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
How ‘NTU bus guy' went from the shy kid to vlogger and emcee
Mr Tan Jing En said he was a 'shy and introverted child', until he took the initiative to intern with a public speaking company seven years ago. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TAN JING EN
How 'NTU bus guy' went from the shy kid to vlogger and emcee The TL;DR: NTU communication studies student Tan Jing En recently gained popularity online with his '50 Uni-Hall Days' series. The 23-year-old is also an author and events host, which all started from his first internship at the Public Speaking Academy seven years ago.
Y ou may have come across videos of the 'NTU bus guy' on your TikTok or Instagram feeds.
In one video, Mr Tan Jing En, 23, sings about being unprepared for his university midterms to the tune of Sarina Carpenter's Espresso.
'Who is ready to crush these midterms?' he calls out in the bus packed with students.
Only one female student cheers shyly.
Though several commenters described feeling 'second-hand embarrassment' from the awkwardness of the vlogs, they seemed to entertain viewers, as several of the videos have surpassed 200,000 views.
The Year 2 communication studies student from Nanyang Technological University, who goes by @ on Instagram and @jiiingennn on TikTok, is the creator behind the '50 Uni-Hall Days' vlog series, which ran from February to April 2025.
Through documenting each of his last 50 days staying on-campus before the end of the school semester, Mr Tan shows that university is not just about being buried in books: He plays frisbee with his friends at 7am, does hosting gigs, and goes to the gym with his professor before classes.
Aside from content creation, Mr Tan, 23, is also a professional emcee. To date, he has hosted around 10 weddings and 40 other events, including TEDxNTU 2024, a speaker event attended by 1,600 people.
Mr Tan said he was a 'shy and introverted child', until he took the initiative to intern with a public speaking company seven years ago.
It all started in Secondary 3, when a botched campaign speech dashed his hopes of becoming president of his school's student council, even though he was the sole candidate.
'That was the most defeating and annoying moment of my life. It made me realise that I needed to improve my public speaking skills.'
When he was in Sec 4, his father signed him up for a course at the Public Speaking Academy, run by Mr Darren Tay, who was crowned champion of the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2016.
Inspired by the course and wanting to learn more, he applied for a two-month internship with the company, from December 2018 to January 2019.
As an intern, he served as a teaching assistant to Mr Tay, helping to prepare student workbooks and coordinate logistics for the company's programmes.
He also asked to attend Mr Tay's speeches, where he learnt the basics of public speaking by observing how Mr Tay 'presented himself on stage' and 'used his voice effectively'.
Feeling like he was one of the first students his age to have completed an internship, Mr Tan decided to spend his two years in junior college writing his own book, Backstage With A Crazy Eloquent Asian, to share his internship takeaways with fellow peers.
In July 2020, his book was published under the Public Speaking Academy. These books were sold at Kinokuniya bookshops for $15.99 and distributed in public libraries. The publishing fees were split between Mr Tan and the company, and all sales proceeds went to Mr Tan.
This led to his first public speaking opportunity, when a former junior at his junior college who was a full-time national serviceman training in Officer Cadet School at the time, remembered Mr Tan's book and invited him to host his wing's commissioning ball for his graduating batch in March 2023.
To gain more experience in public speaking, Mr Tan joined NTU's emcee club in August 2023, and began hosting a slew of events, from brand roadshows to award ceremonies to festivals.
In 2024, his charisma caught the eye of Mr Ong Jiayang , the founder of wedding host agency A Sunny Day, who discovered him on NTU Emcee Club's Instagram page and invited him to join his line-up of hosts .
Mr Ong was the one who first encouraged Mr Tan to start creating content. Despite successfully hosting several weddings, Mr Tan was initially hesitant to post pictures of his hosting experiences, due to 'self-consciousness and a fear of being judged'.
Still, he was inspired by Mr Ong's take: 'If you do not post, how will people know that you exist, or that you're good at your job?'
Cut to Day 29 of his 50-day series.
'Man, oh man. Today we are having an SG60 dialogue with Minister Chan Chun Sing!' says Mr Tan, as he vlogs on stage, to cheers from the audience and a wave from the then education minister.
Many comments on his posts quip that 'social anxiety fears him'.
His trick for overcoming the jitters, whether for content creation or when hosting events, is to redirect his attention outwards.
'When you change the focus from yourself to other people, it's no longer about whether you look good, but whether you're creating a good experience for others,' he said.
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