By Becky Lo

In the first three months of becoming a full-time tutor, Mr Phang Yu Hon earned a mere $220 monthly from his one student.

Now, the physics tutor has close to 90 students and earns about $20,000 a month.

The 41-year-old gave up his research engineer job after four years at the Ministry of Defence in 1994 and decided to tutor full-time.

"I had been giving part-time tuition and found I had a flair for teaching," said Mr Phang.

He said it is not uncommon now for an entire extended family of children to attend his sessions.

"Word gets around and, year after year, cousins, siblings, the whole family, they come back to me for tuition," he said.

Mr Phang has turned one of the rooms in his three-room Bishan flat into a mini-classroom, with desks, chairs and a whiteboard.

On weekdays, he gives lessons from 7 to 9pm. Weekends are packed with classes from 12.30 to 9pm.

Until two years ago, Mr Phang was "running around the island" giving individual one-on-one sessions.

"Group tuition can be achieved only by tutors who have reached a certain degree of stature and experience," he said.

"When I started, I gave individual sessions, driving around Singapore like a taxi driver."

The full-time tutor of 14 years was a Raffles Institution student.

He graduated with first-class honours in electrical engineering from the National University of Singapore.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 15 June 2008.