TuitionHamster.com

In one of my earlier post, I wrote blogged a TuitionHamster.com providing free tuition matchmaking services. Well, looks like the mainstream newspapers have caught on to the new service as The Sunday Star did a little write up on it, "Match me a Tuition Teacher" last Sunday.

Timothy Tiah Ewe Tiam, 21, Edward Boey, 22 and Wilson Quah Jing Qi, 21 are the Internet entrepreneurs responsible for introducing this system of meeting tuition needs to IT users in Malaysia at no charge... Through the search engine, students can look for tutors in their neighbourhood who can provide tuition in the subjects they require. Similarly, tuition teachers can search for students as well.

And for those who are interested in finding out more about their origins, the article has some answers for you.

Why TuitionHamster?

"The school/college may have the best teachers but nothing can substitute personal attention from a teacher,” says Tiah, a final year student in Economics at University College London.

Why Hamster?

“When we were trying to think of names for the website, we didn’t want something conventional like TuitionLink which is very forgettable. With a name like Tuitionhamster, people are intrigued. The name sticks in your head.

“Besides, hamsters are cute and I used to stay with a family that had a lot of hamsters in their house.

Other services available on the website includes a "Hamster Library" as well as "Bounty Hamster". The library service provides a database of e-books which can be downloaded for free - including classics, novels, short stories and more. "Bounty Hamster" on the other hand, is for entrepreneurial spirits out there who would actually like to collect a fee to help secure students for tuition teachers.

As a footnote, on top of my previous posts here, here and here on the supposed RM4 billion tuition market in Malaysia, my personal thoughts on tuition is that there isn't any harm to it, as long as it is taken in the right spirit and for the right reasons. :-)