Dr Phua possesses a Doctor of Education from The University of Hong Kong and a Master of Arts in Communication Management from the University of South Australia.

Prior to joining this institution , Dr Phua was News Editor and Senior Reporter of four internationally and regionally-headquartered publications for Asia. His areas of editorial coverage included business strategies, executive and company profiles, and market trends. Besides, Dr Phua used to be very active in the media industry where he was once a radio producer and presenter for "The International Radio" of Singapore.

Dr Phua has accumulated more than 15 years of rich experience in teaching to various levels of students in Hong Kong and Singapore. In recognition of his teaching methodology, Dr Phua was awarded a certificate under the Teacher Commendation Scheme by the Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government in 2004. Since 2009, he has been presented yearly with HKCC’s “Lively Teaching Award” as well.

Dr Phua’s research focus aims at developing relevant pedagogies and strategies to help target audiences to attain improved levels of critical thinking and self-directed learning. He is also interested in the study of critical media literacy skills assessment and disposition as well as critical thinking.

Dr Phua teaches communication and media related subjects at this institution .