'Craziest thing': Family's offer of $6,000 salary for live-in English tutor to 8-year-old goes viral

$6,000 a month — that's the price one family in Singapore is willing to pay a live-in English tutor for their eight-year-old child.

And the salary comes with meals provided and the potential of up to three months' paid leave too, according to several ads recently spotted online.

Plausible, or too good to be true?

The well-paid assignment appears to have left TikTok user Linglingd0ng in a state of disbelief, according to her viral post on Sunday (Sept 22).

The screenshot Linglingd0ng posted from Premium Tutors Assignments' Telegram channel gave further details on the job requirements, which was for a female English tutor to the pupil, who lives in the Orchard area.

"The client is 'looking for a tutor to support an eight-year-old child with homework, particularly in English. Tutor has to be bilingual in English and Chinese'," stated the agency.

And in case the job title of "live-in tutor" wasn't clear enough, under a section on the "duration and timing" of the assignment, the response given was "as required".

However, the job posting could no longer be found when AsiaOne tried to search for it on the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

But when we dug further, we uncovered a similar ad posted to the My Careers Future job portal, which was also posted on Sept 22. 

The employer, identified on the ad as Jie Shun Jia, is registered as an employment agency incorporated in June this year.

The post, written in both Chinese and English, gave more detailed requirements, including for the candidate to have prior work experience as an English tutor and the ability to "start work as soon as possible".

Moreover, it stipulated that the salary would be "$6,000 to $8,000 monthly".

The ad also gave more information on the home environment, stating that the child is a girl and that only the mother and her children live in the home.

In addition, the post stated that if the family were to head overseas during the three-month school holidays, the tutor would be free to "have a holiday" while still being paid her regular salary.

In its last line, Jie Shun Jia also indicated that graduates from Nanyang Technological University "or other good university graduates" with or without experience may apply, and that "not having a good academic background will be okay".

User Linglingd0ng wrote in her TikTok post referencing the Telegram and the $6,000 salary offer: "Craziest thing I saw this weekend."

"Exactly why Singapore is so competitive," she added.

And it seems she's not alone in her sentiments.

In the comments section to her video, which has garnered more than 300,000 views as of Wednesday, some wondered if it would mean that the tutor would be at the family's beck and call, 24/7.

But it seems that didn't bother everyone.

Responded a user: "For $6,000 I will drown myself with caffeine and be on hot standby 24/7, 365 days in a year, man."

Wrote another: "Meals and holidays provided? Sign me up."

However, others were more than sceptical, with comments such as "Sounds sus and dangerous" and "No way this isn't a scam".

AsiaOne has reached out to Linglingd0ng and the Premium Tutors Assignments for more information.

But in case the job offer has been snapped up, a scroll through the agency's Telegram channel uncovered yet another $6,000 job offer, this time, for an "educational tutor/caretaker" to a nine-year-old child living in Bukit Timah.

The ad indicated that their client is "looking for a dedicated bilingual" in English and Mandarin "to support a nine-year-old child with homework, particularly in English and Math".

The candidate must also "be able to drive and transport the child safely to and from various locations".

In addition, the tutor should also have a diploma at minimum, with the duration of the assignment stipulated as "Mondays to Saturdays, 10.30am to 9pm".

Or if all else fails, one could also try their luck at Haidilao.

ALSO READ: Sentosa family offers up to $5,500 for tutor to coach Primary 3 triplets

candicecai@asiaone.com