The dictionary defines 'sir' as a noun and a salutary greeting for a man. Leave it in the hands of some Chinese students, they will change it into a pronoun, as a name for the male teacher.
Prior to joining the air force, I was a private tutor, a relief teacher and a temporary teacher. Soon after I completed my Senior Cambridge Certificate, I was in a state of limbo. I wanted to be a pilot, but could not afford the cost of going to a flying school overseas. There were no bursaries offered by Malayan Airways, at that time. My only hope was with the Royal Malayan Air Force (RMAF), which was not formed yet, but in the process of being formed. I eventually waited three years for it to materialise.
Through the recommendations of my mother's friends, I was tutor to a school boy, whose father was a butcher, more accurately, a pork seller who owns and runs his own premises. Every now and then, I would receive a package of Chinese pork sausages, as a gift. Very fat, in size and content. The boy's mother used to complain to me of her son's mischief and misdemeanour, and always asked me to cane the boy. But I did not have the heart to do so and would prefer to reason out with him instead. After one year, I was gladden to see his school results improving and his parents happy. For my effort, I was paid $20 per month. Later on, another school boy joined in, and I earned a princely sum of $40.
In addition to the school boys, I was engaged by three Chinese school students, to tutor them on the English language. They were seniors consisting of two girls and a boy. I found them serious and hard working. No problems there. I was receiving good pocket money.
One day, a friend of mine, an English teacher in a Chinese school, approached me to relief him for three months because he had to prepare and sit for some examinations. I was to receive more than a hundred dollars per month, being part of his salary. I accepted partly as a favour and also to earn some money.
The Chinese school was situated in a small town, Gopeng, about a 45 minutes bus ride away. Every morning, I had to get up at five in order to take the first bus out to the terminal to connect to the 'out-station' bus to Gopeng. By afternoon, after I had finished school and got back to give tuition to my other students, I was exhausted.
Small town folks are friendly and they form a close community, where everyone knows everyone. It was the Man Ming Primary school and most of the students were not really interested in learning English. I had to teach in Cantonese. I found the standard of English appalling and the students concocted words by simply assembling various alphabets together. Only a handful of the students, particularly the girls, were really making an attempt in learning. I found out that they were from 'better off' families who could afford private tutors. However, the innocence and antics of the children, sustained me and stole my heart during the tenure of my teaching there.
To hold their attention, I found that having a cane was an advantage. Not to cane them, but to threaten them. While trying to teach a class, it was not unusual to find half the class talking away or being distracted. So a couple of bashing on the desk with the cane used to command authority.
One day, I was teaching a class, and noticed that when I asked one of the boys at the back a question, he stood up to answer. At the same time, the boy sitting at the other end of the long bench, also stood up halfway. When I asked this boy a question, the other boy also stood up. Sensing something strange, I walked towards the back of the class. I then noticed that the long bench was resting on two legs, the centre and one side. The legs of the other side were broken and the long bench became something of a see-saw. Deciding to have some fun with the boys, I quickly asked one of the boys a question. While he was sitting down, I quickly called the other boy up. The bench crashed with the boys on the floor. The whole class started to laugh.
The children behaved differently in the classroom and outside when school was over. The meek ones would usually shy away. But there were those who could engage me in a conversation in Cantonese. It was then that I discovered that they would call me "Ah Sir" rather than to address me as 'sir'. After my three month stint with them, I found that I had enjoyed the experience and after I left, I missed them.
From a Chinese Primary School, my next venture was a private school for drop-out, a very big contrast. Chee Yan School, owned and ran by a friend who lived near me, I was faced with the stark reality of trying to cope with delinquents and the drop-out trying to catch up with lost time. Some of the students were probably older than me. There was one girl who was trying very hard to study but really had difficulties. At every sessions, I had problems controlling the class because some were interested in the lesson, but there were others who did not, and continued to disrupt the class. These were the delinquents and the bad hats. I eventually started the class by telling those who were not interested, to sit at the back of the class and to do what they wanted without making any noise or disruption. To my surprise, this worked and I taught those sitting in front of me. Once I admonished one of the boys for bad behaviour. He got angry with me and wanted to fight with me. I sent him to the back of the class and for the whole session, he gave me the evil eye.
One day while teaching, I was called to the telephone at the office. It was from the police station and the inspector asked me to call at the police station after school. I went and met the police inspector. He told me that he had arrested one of my students, for launching a rocket near a fire station. The student, in his plea, mentioned that I had taught them explosives in the science class, and he was trying out some experiment. The police wanted to know if I had given them an assignment to build a rocket. I told the police that I had not given them any assignment at all. The police agreed with me that it was just a school boy prank and asked that I counsel the student. The student was released and I counselled him not to do anything foolish. He was perhaps one of my good students who was interested in his studies.
I did several teaching stints, including non-paying classes, when I lectured to the Air Training Corp (ATC), on air navigation, airmanship and other aviation subjects, because I was already in possession of my Private Pilot License. I stopped teaching when I was finally accepted into the air force.
Till then....
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