Hundreds of students of the Melior Business School (MBS), formerly at 97 Nguyen Van Troi Street in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, may lose their tuition fees and get no certificate as the unit suddenly closed and its Singaporean director Cheng Sim Kok fled.
Teachers and suppliers unpaid
Tuoi Tre Newspaper reported School staff and lecturers stating they had not been advised in advance, and many of them were owed salary, yet. A book distribution firm in the city said that MBS also owes his company VND700 million (US$33,650) for textbooks supplied.
An English language teacher, Donovan Neethling, said he has not been paid November salary.
Intentional fraud
Parents and students accused the school of intentionally defrauding them. Days before the closure, MBS urged students to pay tuition fees. School staff assured them that the rumor about the closure was wrong.
Exorbitant fees
Tuition fees for a three-month course in English language ranged from USD$900 - $2,000. Many otherss chose a whole package priced from USD$4,500 to $13,000.
Broken promises, broken dreams
The mother of student THAI Van Anh Duy, Mrs. THAI Thi Phuong Nguyen, presented a letter of confirmation dated 2012 August 2, signed by acting managing director NGUYEN Thi Thu Hang. The letter stated, “After graduating, MBS will have financial assistance for students to study in Singapore.”
“I paid a fee tuition totalling VND138 million. Later I paid another sum of VND35-million and the school completed only two semesters, she complained.
Another, Mrs. LE Thi Hong, mother of student NGUYEN My Linh, said she paid VND228-million ($11,000) but her daughter only finished a semester.
Investment Certificate
The Investment Certificate granted as recently as 2012 January 14, by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Melior International College (MIC) transferred all shares, other rights and responsibilities to MBS VietNam. This is a common practice where the new entity has insufficient capital.
Singapore origins
The Singapore-based MIC denied any involvement with MBS. The MBS was granted a Certificate authorising it to offer short-term training courses of less than a year for business administration, tourism management and hotel operations.
A MBS VietNam department manager said MBS licenced it's trademark franchise from the MIC, and so MBS, legally, is not a part of MIC.
Training: Nice business - if you can get it!
Slow news day or summit??
This was all over the news when it happened :
http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitr … ed-1.91925
I actually know some guys who worked there and got screwed over. I feel more sorry for the students and famalies than the teachers though.
Guess the expat teachers need to be wary wher ethey work....
Never a slow news day in VietNam.
I met a student who got ripped, she has lost two years money for education. She has to work to recover the money - this is tragic.
Hopefully people reading this will know it is true and volunteer their services free, or at reduced rates.
This situation applies to the corporate structures of international schools.
Completely agree with you it is tragic, and devestates a lot of peoples lives I have no doubt.
Sadly though I don't think many will volunteer there services for free, at least not for long. I know some people who are trying to help out and get students into other schools etc, but I don't hold out much hope for the masses.
No doubt this won't be the last time either, it will soon be forgotten and left in history. Remember Raffles ?
Maybe I'm old fashioned but I believe Foreigners, most of whom enjoy living here, should give something back to the country.
If a language instructor part times on the side, there is not much hardship in cutting the rate or giving it away free to these victims of fraud.
Besides, I find attending English Clubs and one-on-one instruction to be rewarding and provides an opportunity to really interact with Vietnamese on a casual but deep level.
The Singaporeans involved will likely be penalised by SP, and definitely blacklisted with VN Immigration, as has happened with rogue Taiwanese, Korean and Chinese people who employed people here.
I had a friend too who lost her job and was owed back pay, they are suing but i doubt much will come of it. Real shame for the kids though.
Yup, it is a shame. But, until the Vietnamese parents and children wisen up things like this will continue to take place.
Quality always come at a cost. This is as basic as it gets, yet Vietnamese almost always seek cheap alternatives. Thus, it give rise to such con games.
Also, I think that those bureaucrats, who granted these con men their licenses, should get some heat for failure to look into those guys' backgrounds, or not looking as good as they looked into mine, or failure to monitor, or something... For sure, such shady folks would not have been able to set up shops in many other countries.
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