There's a couple of interesting coments in the "nominate a school for blacklisting section" reprinted here. Anyone like to add to any comments? The Inspector is always a tad bilious when faced with a plate of chop suey and has yet to venture to Hong Kong. Rumour has it that they have an invountary organ donor scheme in place for those that transgress and therefore as one of life's great transgressors I prefer to hang on to my bodily parts and have so far kept well clear of the place.
Comment 1.
CHILDREN'S ENGLISH CENTRE HONG KONG - stay well clear of this place. The director of the school Clare doesn't even have a degree or qualification in education. She has a severe attitude problem and thinks far too highly of herself, when in actual fact she is quite an offensive human being. Classing her as human is controversial! Her muppet skivvy Charlie is equally as vile and basically they manage to upset and annoy all who work there. There annual turnover of staff speaks for itself! You did get paid on time, but by check because BACS cost an extra £1 a month to process, that is how tight they are! Honestly i would advise against going to work for them completely. There are some great schools in Hong Kong, so do your research first. Hong Kong is a brilliant place to live and work and I would definitely recommend it, just not with these farmyard animals.
Comment 2,
Children's English Centre. Whoever wrote the previous comment on CEC were absolutely correct and even slightly kind I'd say. I worked for them and they had a 100% turn over of staff. Some of us took less pay just so that we wouldn't have to look at those two anymore. There were numerous complaints about them on Daves ESL cafe website but they were removed. They are the worst employers I've ever had. Charlie the 'muppet skivvy' was so smarmy and utterly two faced. Claire on the other hand was absolute poison and you'd feel on edge opening your mouth in their crappy little office. They made me cry a few times! I'm glad I had the experience because I'll never let that happen to me again but it took me a good year to stop feeling angry at them. Pure and utter poison. Don't even go there on the apartments for teachers, nearer China than Hong Kong island. Just don't bother with them.
Inspector McHammered of the Lard in Val Ferret, Switzerland
9 comments:
as chinese national and hong kong resident i do not appreciate your racist introduction
no racist like tefl racist
An interesting blog you have here! I was considering a move to HK, but I think I'll pass on that idea now!
My dear anonymouse - if you think that the most racist people are EFL teachers, you should try coming to the Gulf for a while. Here the Arabs have instituted a very efficient system of economic and ethnic apartheid, one that would have done the old South African regime almost proud!
Has any teacher at CEC, past or present, thought that Claire might have a slight drug habit? Cocaine, Amphetamines...whatever. She certainly makes enough money to sustain it. Plus, she has the most major mood swings. It would sure explain the days of elation that pepper her otherwise vile person. and her arrogance - dear God!! If you read this blog before you accept a contract then you are a fool if you go to work for this woman.
Thanks for the post, I used to live in Hong Kong for 10 years in the 80's and still go back to visit every year, and planning to move back there again, and that's what brought me to this website.
Firstly, I sincerely hope you don't mind me raising objections to the information you have posted, but there's some facts and truths that may heal your phobias base of rumours.
The Involuntary Organ Removal issue is originated in China. The first article I came across was in Times Magazine in mid 80's. It was about Chinese authority removing executed criminals organs without anyone's consent. This issue is still around is still considered a concern as of today.
It has absolutely nothing to do with Hong Kong. Even though Hong Kong does belong to mainland China, but it is a completely different land, culture and education. with 47 years of British influences before it was returned to it's motherland.
I'm sorry to hear that someone has had some bad experience in Hong Kong. But I'm quite amused by how the writer put his/her words together as a teacher. There are more 'name callings' than explaining what happened and why it should be blacklisted.
sounds like some young little kid trying to make someone feel bad. i had to laugh when i read "They made me cry a few times!"....."took me a good year to stop feeling angry at them", these are the words my 7 year old granddaughter will be whining when she's complaining about her schoolmates. so cute!!
Anyway Inspector, I hope you will inspect all information in the future before agreeing to what comes from someone's mouth. It can cause damages to the innocent.
I'll find out more about that centre and will let you know how it goes.
Cheers.
Rosemary G. Cohan, Kent
Dear Rosemary - fully agreed. I spent some lovely years in Hong Kong, and I miss it every day that I am away. It is a wonderful city with so much to offer, and my time there was well spent. Even the time that I spent at the same centre that is mentioned here.
However, it was the children and the schools that made working for the centre pleasant. The centre and the two people who run it deserve every bit of criticism they receive. They are a misery to work for, both unhappy in themselves and seemingly with their lives - for people who work for and with children, they themselves express little joy in life, only bitterness and spite. It was with pleasure that I left that job, and continued to enjoy my time in Hong Kong elsewhere. Even after quitting, my association with the centre lead to a 9-hour ordeal and near arrest at the Shenzen border, due to their negligence, and that is just the culmination of a year of dreading going to the office, living on tenterhooks, working with some severely maladjusted (after the fact of employment with CEC)people who were being slowly quashed into nervous submission.
I could tell you many a story, and verify that which you would like to know. I could haul in all the teachers that worked with me at the same time, and we could all have a jolly old chin wag about the bygone days with CEC - but what's the point? It's over now! Thank goodness.
This is a comment for Rosemary.
Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you think it was cute! I think if you understood the level of bullying that goes on in that place you might have a bit more respect for the comments made. It is a very serious issue and it really messes with peoples lives. Claire Carpenter brings people over from England, often totally unexperienced (so that she can manipulate them). She puts them in her apartments in a place called Fo Tan which is a huge disappointment for anyone expecting 'Hong Kong'. If you are unlucky enough to be housed by her then she will treat you something like she treats her Chinese staff, which is terribly. She is an out and out bully, and when your wages, visa and home are dependent on her you feel in a very vulnerable position indeed. She is fully aware of this and takes full advantage of it. For the record her qualifications are up to A levels, one of them is in Economics, NONE of them are in English. She also has a TEFL cert, not a dip or MA. If you are a male working for her she might be nice to you, if you are a married woman same, if you are a single young girl good luck! She hates them!! I could never work Charlie out, she seemed to be so much nicer than Claire but really was two faced. In the end Claire was preferable because at least what you saw was what you got.
Frankly Rosemary, after your comment, I hope you do go and work there.
I wholeheartedly agree with the last 2 comments regarding this centre and it is patently obvious that 'Rosemary' has some vested interest in defending Claire Carpenter, possibly a family member?? or even the miserable cow herself... Previous comments posted here criticising the centre have been removed...now why would that be?! Worried people will find out what you're really like, Claire? Make no mistake, Claire is a bully and controls her staff by making them as vulnerable and dependant on her as possible. Hong Kong is an amazing place - don't spoil it for yourself by working for this slave driver. The monthly fee she charges the schools for you to be there is up to 3 times your wage. On top of that she pockets all the revenue from after-school classes, weekend classes and private lessons which she will expect you to work. And don't believe her when she says there is no lesson planning. Within a month you'll be planning most of your lessons yourself and the ones she gives you are unteachable. The majority of the staff usually scrap the lesson and teach something entirely different. Not that you could ever tell her that. Still want to work for her??
All the comments above, r.e. CEC, are fully justified. Nobody was happy there. Everyone dreaded going to the office, and any time she was off or had to " dash out " (to take more drugs?) were met with cries of joy and gasps of relief. Charlie, although nice on the front of things, reports everything back to Claire. They have worked together for almost a decade; you cannot underestimate that. Gloria is lovely, as is Elena, the poor, downtrodden office helper. They kept me sane. Don't work for this place, there are better opportunities out there.
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