Confessions Of Non-St Joshuastine

A flyer landed in my letterbox today, and it sparked me off into writing this confessional.

“You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)

The sin of idolatry is my weak point. Being a naturally ambitious person, I struggle for superiority. Not to the extent of challenging the deity and Lordship of the one and only Living God. More of like, giving myself or my own interests a higher priority than God.

“You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13)

No, I have not killed anyone. But if it is true that murder begins in the heart, and that “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:22), then I am a professional assassin. No need to go to the level of turning the other cheek. If given a choice between fight or flight – I choose fight. Win or lose, never mind. But I must get my fight.

“You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17)

I do not specifically long for a particular neighbor’s possessions for myself. But I generally feel the luring pull of the world to want more things for myself. Through my observations of the general world order, I am tempted to make it big time, the way I’d like to define big time in my own terms.

So, what has the flyer got to do with all this.

“C.S. Wong Mathematics Class. Maths & Add Maths Tuition (PMR & SPM)”

There’s this guy, a USM Bachelor Degree holder in Mechanical Engineering, who is going full time into the tuition business! He teaches Mathematics from Form 1 to Form 5, for both Maths and Add Maths! He establishes his empire all over Penang in 4 tuition centers: Gottlieb Road, New Lane, Paya Terubong, and PISA! He’s handling classes everyday, around the clock, from Monday to Sunday!

A smart move, I should say. Engineering may not be an ideal job for every engineer, because considering the competitiveness in the world of engineering, you must either be a really excellent engineer to make it big, or just be a mediocre engineer who’s married to your job for a pay packet that may be far from luxurious. And there’s a lot of money in the tuition business, especially if you’re good and you’re willing to invest your time in it.

So, why does this strike a chord within me? Because I, too, am planning to go into the tuition business, starting January! I’ll be teaching just one small class. Add Maths, Form 4, on Monday evenings as a start.

Just as I’m finishing my question bank, here comes this guy, with an impressive looking advertisement on my doorstep. Not only that, he is also from USM, my university. And he’s also building his tuition empire in Penang, my home state. And he’s teaching Mathematics, my major. And he is conquering both kinds of Maths, from Form 1 to Form 5!

The worst part is… He even stole my pen name! I gave myself a brand name “C.S. Hooi Tutorial Center”. And this guy calls himself C.S. Wong Mathematics Class! Wah piang eh... As the say in Hokkien, really “bey song”.

Nevertheless, I’m sure his C.S. is not the same as my C.S. His C.S. probably means Chee Seng or Cheng Soon, or something like that. I, for one, know that my C.S. is unique. There can only be one Chee Shing!

As I’ve said earlier… Great is my sin of idolatry.

As for now, maybe I’ll find out his home address and toilet paper his house :)