Meet the 'super tutor' who makes $1.3 million a year
Meet Anthony Fok one of the best-known faces of Singapore's booming private tuition scene who in three years, has brought in more than $1.3 million a year.
Fok is part of an elite group of Singaporean "super tutors," who charge top dollar for top grades.
Parents are more than willing to pay up to $32,500 a year in the hope of giving their teenager a leg up in the city-state's highly competitive education system.
"There is huge demand from parents," he tells CNBC outside his shop-front-cum-classroom, which is covered in clippings from his press appearances.
"It's fuelled by competition and it's fuelled by ambition to get the students to top schools in the country. So parents are willing to splurge money on tuition services.
"It's a big industry."
One of his students, Tyle Tan, said he was underperforming in school and it was hard to follow the school system and the notes.
"My parents, being Asians, want me to be competitive and they suggested I take tuition classes. I thought it makes sense, so of course I obliged," he laughs.
Tan has been taking tuition classes for the past two years and his crucial exams are just a few months away.
The 17-year-old student said he has ambitions to study law at one of Singapore's top universities, but he knows he needs straight As to be considered.
"With exams coming nearer, it's harder and harder to meet up with friends when you're using most of the time to study," Tan said.
"The pressure is certainly there with everyone wanting to do well."
Fok said that when he first began he knew all of his students personally because his group was so small.
"When I started in the year 2013, there were only about three to four students. It was a very small class size and I knew the students personally," Fok said.
"Soon the word of mouth grew and now I teach about 200 to 300 students a year."
Given the limited vacancies in his class near examination time, Fok says he's encountered parents who are willing to pay up to $25,000 just to guarantee a spot for their child (he didn't accept the cash.)
Christopher Chen and Nicholas Ng joined Fok's classes when the super tutor first started his business. They attest to his skills.
"Before I had tuition classes I was failing my econs," Chen, now first-year business student at the National University of Singapore, said.
"After coming to Mr. Fok's classes, I find economics very interesting and it helps me a lot to understand how economics works in real life."
"What makes him a super tutor? To be frank, he can deliver results," Ng agrees. "Parents in Singapore are really result orientated.
They look for tutors that can deliver results for their kids and if a tutor does that, the parent will sign his or her kids to the class."
