FirstCom Academy suspended for not complying with SkillsFuture Singapore’s marketing guidelines

[Asphodeli]

This course scam by non-govt linked companies has been around since mid 2000s lah, its only when govt give SkillsFuture credits, that's where it got worse, since before the credits thing, everyone mostly paid with cash.

The root problem is that courses and skills outcomes are hard to justify as there is not govt-accredited framework to abide by, and it is something that the govt is unwilling to police. But obviously if it is so blatantly a scam they have to step in la...

 

[sizzy6]

dont anyhow post hor ..

maybe the directors and founders got backing one ..

in Singapore is 有关系就没关系

 

[coldish]

How come they still at TPY HDB hub running a booth?

 

[orhneeorh]

scholars good at coming out with ideas to get credit.. but no one looks at implementation

 

[maikumgong]

Prior to SF credit, there were PIC, PSG where kickbacks and gadgets were given to entice sme to sign up. Gahmen minies best miney because gst is just a finger away

 

[Pearce]

In relation to this company (Firstcom Academy) being suspended by SSG for just a mere 3 months:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sin...sfuture-credit-wsq-courses-suspension-4774001

Interesting stuff about Firstcom from Reddit:


Their company Glassdoor page is equally eye-opening, just one example out of many:

It is alleged that many of their positive Google/Glassdoor reviews are faked as well.

Quite unbelievable man, how long has SSG been sleeping? And then imposing 3 months of suspension for this company is enough?

Worse, how much of taxpayer money has went to such a company, and how much more does SSG want to provide them?

Bonus:
Seems like the company is family-run, the boss and wife face can be found easily with an online search, scary sia.

Everyone is welcome to do their own research.

Spoiler

"SkillsFuture will help S’poreans seize new opportunities as lifespans lengthen: PM Wong"

Yea, our PM Lawrence Wong is right:
Opportunities for companies like FirstCom to seize upon using creative methods, while our agencies either sleep or monitor.

I think usually when some company over step the line, they will 1st get warning, 2nd get suspend, third terminate license. Hardly strike out?

 

[consigliere]

50k reviews surely deserved some credits?

 

[Subprimer]

one MDIS diploma in mass comm pawn all the local University $20k/mth Sinks here.

 

[Whispers]

Not sure which scholar come up with this brilliant ideas to mask or give long unemployment people hope

hope, that is all such courses can give. unless the position needs a cert in toilet cleaning, then yes, such courses provided by firstcom or 2ndcom is useful. its quite impossible that after a skill futures course, can work as a data analyst with no other prior education/qualifications. bluff who. then those people in uni with specialized knowledge, study for?

skills futures, the idea behind upskilling or learning something new to maintain mental health is actually with good intent. but too many BS course providers. ever see people use skillsfutures credits to learn how to make and deco 3D jelly. learn for interests, ok ; learn to start a business, maybe ; course provider/business want to tap on money just sitting there, definitely.

IMO govt do not know how to solve the problem, BUT have to be seen as trying to solve the problem. then it does what it does best, throw money at the problem. when questioned, the stats will come out. then its lies, damn lies and statistics again..

 

[waiken]

knn saw their road show last wk in mall

 

[waiken]

all juz a facade one side giving a show that they r helping jobless, other side juz milk those tax payers monies for their own greed

 

[maikumgong]

all juz a facade one side giving a show that they r helping jobless, other side juz milk those tax payers monies for their own greed

What can we do, while edmwer kpkb, they continue to drive lambo, ferrari and laughing all the way to the banks. Some said they still see their booth, probably preparing for bigger grab in april after the 3 months suspend

 

[Newtype_com]

Limpeh wanna use Skillfuture credits to study proper globally recognized finance course CFA, cannot find any proper course provider and subsidy

All the stupid courses is ask you study baking, toilet cleaning and security guards

Clown Scheme

 

[tarui04]

Fca did they advertise in those pc shows??

 

[whatheheck]

knn saw their road show last wk in mall

huat ah

 

[Taloona]

I attended their courses on Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn last year. I was persuaded by the sales person to sign up for three courses as a package. She told me how good the trainers were. I wanted to be more social media savvy with the purpose of broadcasting my services - phonics for children.

The good :
- The trainers I had were quite dedicated.
- There were a few aunties in the class who didn't know how to use the laptops. Their customer service officers helped them with their assignments, which they had to pass before grants were given. I don't know if this is considered a good point because I didn't know to what extent the officers helped the aunties with their assessments.

The bad:
- Cheap breakfast and tea breaks to lure customers. The food was so salty that I opted out for the later part of my course.
- At the end of the course, participants were asked if they wanted to give a Google review with vouchers as incentives.

Course participants: A mix of aunties who were there to kill time, and working adults. Some were sent by their companies.

Did I gain anything from the course? Not really. The trainers taught us how to track the demand of our products/services using certain functions. To me, it was quite complicated.

We were told to produce a video in TikTok as a group presentation. That was the first time I heard of SnapCut video editing tool. The trainer did not teach us how to do the editing. My course mate did the video editing (she already knows how to use the software) and I was one of the actors in the video. We split up the load to save time. Today, I had to go to YouTube to learn the basics of video editing when I needed to edit some videos.

I had forgotten almost everything I had learnt. I depend on word of mouth for friends to refer students to me.

At the end of each course, my email was spammed with messages from SkillFuture asking me for feedback about the courses. One of the feedback was supposedly confidential and will not be seen by the course provider(don't know true or not).

 

[Taloona]

Suspend the training center only ah?

The directors no need to go squat for misuse of government funds?

Sibei good life ah.

Guys, do you know this was what happened to the preschool education industry for many years before government set up NIEC? In the past, any Ah Gao and Ah Mao can set up a training school to train preschool teachers. Some of them closed down leaving students in the lurch. Students would shop around to see which training school is easier to pass! I had taught in some of these private training schools. I felt so disgusted by their unethical way of doing business that I left and never went back again.

It has taken Ah Gong so long to regulate this industry. Education should not be profit driven.

 

[Shion]

suspend only ? shld force them to close down.

 

[maikumgong]

I attended their courses on Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn last year. I was persuaded by the sales person to sign up for three courses as a package. She told me how good the trainers were. I wanted to be more social media savvy with the purpose of broadcasting my services - phonics for children.

The good :
- The trainers I had were quite dedicated.
- There were a few aunties in the class who didn't know how to use the laptops. Their customer service officers helped them with their assignments, which they had to pass before grants were given. I don't know if this is considered a good point because I didn't know to what extent the officers helped the aunties with their assessments.

The bad:
- Cheap breakfast and tea breaks to lure customers. The food was so salty that I opted out for the later part of my course.
- At the end of the course, participants were asked if they wanted to give a Google review with vouchers as incentives.

Course participants: A mix of aunties who were there to kill time, and working adults. Some were sent by their companies.

Did I gain anything from the course? Not really. The trainers taught us how to track the demand of our products/services using certain functions. To me, it was quite complicated.

We were told to produce a video in TikTok as a group presentation. That was the first time I heard of SnapCut video editing tool. The trainer did not teach us how to do the editing. My course mate did the video editing (she already knows how to use the software) and I was one of the actors in the video. We split up the load to save time. Today, I had to go to YouTube to learn the basics of video editing when I needed to edit some videos.

I had forgotten almost everything I had learnt. I depend on word of mouth for friends to refer students to me.

At the end of each course, my email was spammed with messages from SkillFuture asking me for feedback about the courses. One of the feedback was supposedly confidential and will not be seen by the course provider(don't know true or not).

Thanks for providing the insights.

 

[Roid Rage]

since long ago i feel those skill future and psg grants are fishy. Even the bigger organization offering unreasonably expensive costs / products but lure you by claiming they are heavily subsidized. It’s obvious that they are abusing the system for profit. Firstcomm is the worst. I’ve seen them aggressively scamming old folks outside fairprice for some tech/media courses. I’m just glad that now they are infamous for their unethical sales tactics. Hope they bankrupt soon