By Trailerman Sam
As age has caught up with me, I am very used to people calling me Uncle.
All my tuition centre students call me Uncle Sam or Sam Uncle. Both suit me fine even though each carries a different definition. Uncle so-and-so is how someone in most Asian cultures addresses an elder in a conversation. While so-and-so Uncle is when one describes who the person is (famous or unfamous for).
Strictly speaking, I don’t mind how my students call me. As long as they excel in their studies, that’s all that matters.
I’m also thrilled being an uncle to many nieces and nephews, either through blood relations or otherwise.
Talking about excelling in exams, some students do go the extra mile and learn how to be like me — drinking espresso coffee to stay awake late into the night to study and pass their exams. Whether they knew that this is also known as burning the midnight oil, I’m not so sure because I never gave them any real candles as they may turn out to be fire hazards!
One of the students at my tuition centre had aimed to get a Skills Certificate in Mechatronics. She had done well in her SPM but didn’t get through her BM, which is a must if one intends to take a diploma course. It was heartening to teach her each time she dropped by for help as she was serious in her approach towards bettering herself.
She was already working full time and still very much in love with what most girls of her age love most. For a young woman, I reckoned it wasn’t easy to juggle between work, college, tuition classes and home. But with much determination and no boyfriends, she managed to get that certificate along with mom’s encouragement. This led her to acknowledge that mom knows best.
She then decided to get a diploma next while continuing to prestidigitate between work, home, college and tuition classes. But, still no dates or boyfriends as far as all of us at the tuition centre knew.
And with a truckful of continued motivation and encouragement from mom who still knows best, she still dropped by the tuition centre for any help she might need. Come rain or shine, she’s always armed with her huge smile.
I was impressed with her determination to achieve her dreams of holding that scroll in mechatronics. So, I offered all the help I could.
Few years on, she finally got her diploma. As a mark of gratitude, I got a delicious vegetarian briyani cooked by her.
What came next? Me and my big mouth then suggested that she took a degree in mechatronics. This was when it got more interesting.
Mom-Knows-Best then decided to lecture her that it was time to get married for Mom-Knows-Best said she wanted to cuddle a grandchild! Although this was what Mon-Knows-Best wanted, I was in a dilemma, too.
The student told me she wanted to move to another planet. She even asked if I had any alien friends and if I could ask them for a ticket to whisk her away. (l wished I hadn’t spoken so vigorously about the solar system, other planets and aliens in my class then!).
First, I told her I don’t call them aliens anymore as it was improper. Why not? she retorted.
I said if they could travel at the speed of light and reach here in a jiffy, they must surely be more intelligent than humans. And here we’re still struggling to make sure that our rockets don’t get blown off at the launch pad or travel into the stratosphere without a hitch. Like what happened in the United States recently.
After a long pause, I told her that the only planet she could be safe was Planet Zuben, located somewhere in the Libra constellation. At the last count, I was told she’s ready to fly before her ears bled from Mom-Knows-Best’s favourite line: when are you getting married?
Now, who knows best? Moms or Uncles?
Trailerman Sam is a popular tuition teacher in Penang. If he is not teaching, he is writing, drinking plenty of coffee and probably star or planet gazing. He can be reached at trailer17@hotmail.com
The views expressed here are that of the writer’s and not necessarily that of Weekly Echo’s.