We call him, Teacher Tan!

Do you really understand the background of a tutor?

What the authorities know as a student is concentrated on studying but not to know the background of a tutor. Every tutor has their own story on why they want to become a tutor even though there are many other different job opportunities. They will lose their job if the tuition center shuts down due to financial problems. Most of the tuition centers will have more than a tutor for a subject but it’s not what he does.

Mr Tan, a passionate tutor who teaches in Selayang has a heart for his students beyond just educating them. Ng, one of his many beloved students, she remarked, “He wants to maintain the standard of his quality in teaching, so he has never hired staffs to teach the students.” Although Mr Tan’s tuition center is small in comparison to other tuition centers, he isn’t disheartened by this.

He says, “To have a relationship with my student depends on fate.” The interesting part is that he considers every student he teaches as fate that he met them.

Most people usually think that the task of a tutor is to only teach the students who pay them and not to care about the results they achieve. However, Mr. Tan isn’t like that. He is a very responsible person or some would say even more than responsible. He takes account for his students’ academic results and tries his absolute best to help them. He will reward his students who show improvement in their studies.

“For me, Teacher Tan is not only a tutor but he is someone who is very wise and leads us to the right path”, expressed Ng.

Ng added that he would tell stories about himself to the students as an encouragement and to keep the mood lively, rather than continuous teaching which would obviously bore the already-tired students. Mr Tan’s previous profession was being an engineer from a big company but he decided to quit the job to become a tuition teacher even though he knew that it wasn’t going to bring in much income. He did it because of the passion he has for teaching. He said that he was unhappy when he was working as an engineer so he decided to change his career to become a normal tutor.

Besides, he gives inspiration to students through teaching. His classes mostly have only 10 students per class because he wants to maintain the quality of teaching. Other than passion, he has more reasons on why he wants to be a tutor. He came from a poor family background and had was in a very unstable financial condition. This led him to study hard to aim for a scholarship for overseas studies. Finally, he did it! He managed to score a scholarship in England to finish his studies that eventually progressed to a masters.

Moreover, he helps many students in their studies and even gives them free education because they cannot afford to study in a tuition center due to their family background. He feels bad for the students who cannot experience a proper education.

Ng said: “One of my cousins is also tutored by him. When his father was seriously injured and nobody can fetch him to the tuition center. They couldn’t even afford the tuition fee. Mr. Tan was willing to fetch and provide free tuition class for him. Till now my cousin is very thankful and grateful to him.”

“If you are very lazy and didn't do my work seriously, you will suffer in the end,” a sentence that holds truth and is repeated in every class by Mr Tan.

Normally a tutor depends their living on the fees that is paid by the student, but that’s not him. He has his own way to lecture his student more effectively by understanding the concept so many of his students find it useful and they remember it till now.