Learning and teaching together

Tuition centre founder Darrell Tan hopes to change one thing about his students: the fear that motivates them.

"I had a student councillor in my class who came up to me and said, 'Please can you just give me one more mark so that I can get to the next grade?'," says the former teacher, 30, who taught English language and literature at Chung Cheng High School (Main) from 2010 to 2013.

"He broke down and said, 'My parents are going to hate me for this'," Mr Tan recalls of the 16-year-old.

"It was basically from a B4 to a B3. I said, 'No, you're going to go back and say you tried your best and they shouldn't be loving you just for your results.'"

From that encounter, and his first job at Chung Cheng High, Mr Tan went on to be a private tutor for a year. Last month, he launched Edhome, a tuition centre in Orchard Road, which he started with $80,000 of his own money.

The venture is a bit of a family affair.

His mother Tan Wai Heng, 61, and two sisters-in-law Joann Tan, 37, and Kwan Chiao Chyi, 32 - all former teachers - are resident tutors at Edhome, as is Mr Tan.

The tuition centre also has five part-time tutors and about 50 students. Monthly tuition fees range from $250 to $320.

His father Philip Tan, 61, owns a real estate firm, while his two older brothers Daniel, 36, and David, 32, are oncologists.

Bs are not the only things that Singaporean students fear.

In 2011, when Mr Tan organised an exchange programme between his then-school and some British students, he saw how local students were paralysed with anxiety when asked to write a poem.

"The UK kids started on the task. Our Asian kids were going, ''cher (a short form for teacher), can you tell me how to start?' After 15 minutes, their paper was blank," he says.

"It's not that our students are not good enough. There's a lot of fear, fear of doing something wrong."

He set up Edhome to provide a nurturing environment for students to "learn without fear" and eliminate pressure, says the bachelor.

His mother taught various subjects in primary school for more than 30 years. For the past decade, she has been a part-time school counsellor at Geylang Methodist School (Primary).

"I had a Primary 4 class 10 years ago which had 10 Nepalese students, one Korean and a few Malaysians. Besides teaching, I realised that I had a role to play to help them live in this mini society," she says.

"If students are emotionally affected, they cannot learn well. There's a need to take care of other areas."

Why did you decide to set up Edhome as a family business?

Darrell: My mum taught in primary school. My two sisters-in-law were secondary school teachers, and after teaching in a secondary school, I gave tuition in General Paper to junior college students.

I realised that there's a disconnect between the three stages (of the education system) and that we could bridge the gaps as a family.

What was Darrell like when he was younger?

Mrs Tan: When he was young, he was very tender-hearted and expressive. He kissed me goodnight on the cheek until he was 18 or 19. Then there's another side to him: strong-willed, fiercely independent.

Mr Tan: He always wanted to do things on his own. He sold Christmas cards door to door in Primary 5 and flowers for Valentine's Day at around 13 years old.

In his first year at the National University of Singapore, studying English and sociology, he came to me and said he no longer wanted an allowance from me, although I still paid his school fees. He earned his own money by doing relief teaching and giving tuition.

What are your family values?

Mr Tan: Loving your children means investing lots of time in them. This way, we know their strengths and weaknesses, and can draw out their potential.

For example, Darrell values friendship. He helped his friends so much in secondary school and JC, that we felt he neglected his studies. I was very glad when he went into this business because he can relate to students in terms of not wanting to study hard.

Mrs Tan: Passion to learn, to find out things, like the children pushing me to learn IT. I'm now quite good at Power Point presentations, which I use in my counselling workshops.

Darrell: We debate and discuss a lot in our family. At the same time, there's so much encouragement going on. When I was setting up my business, my mother told me, "I will do what I can to help you all".

I asked her to come up with a primary school programme for Edhome.

How did you discipline Darrell as a child?

Mrs Tan: We had house rules such as greeting parents, being punctual, doing homework, respecting teachers in school and doing what they tell you to do.

Father and mother must work together. One parent would take the disciplinary role and the other would teach and explain.

Darrell: In primary school, my dad believed in using the cane if we did something wrong. In secondary school, we had something called restricted privileges - RP, the dreaded word.

If I came home late or failed an exam, I would have my pocket money taken away. But my mum would pack me a lunchbox for school.

What are your views on caning?

Mrs Tan: It was done very discreetly. They went to the room and were caned one stroke on the bottom. They were so creative, they would put books inside their pants as a buffer before the cane struck.

Darrell: What I remember though were my mother's tears and letters when I was in what was then Chinese High School and Victoria Junior College.

My mum cried because I was in a rebellious phase where I didn't want to study. I told some lies so I could go out, play pool with my friends. My grades suffered.

The letters, asking me to change my ways, had tears on them. That's why I write notes of encouragement to my students and they write back.

If the parent-child roles were reversed, what would you have done differently?

Darrell: If I were my dad, I would have communicated a lot more, said "I love you" and "I am sorry" more, which was perhaps not how parenting was done in the 1990s.

Mrs Tan: I wouldn't be like Darrell, I'm not as bold as him. I don't think I would be able to set up Edhome.

Mr Tan: I would do the same as Darrell. Actually, I set up a tuition agency myself in the 1980s. My business partner went into another business after seven years. We sold it and I founded my real estate firm.

venessal@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 21, 2014.
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