On Feb 20, I went for an interview at the company office. A woman interviewer took me to a room and showed me a thick file of their 'projects'. I was told I had to buy an unfamiliar brand of professional make-up kit from them. I was also told that I would be sponsored five weekly courses to be held at a hotel every Sunday. If I failed to attend any lessons, I would have to pay them $2,000 in compensation. Without doing a background check on the company, I signed up.

I went for my first lesson on Feb 24. There were other girls like me there. We were taught foot works like how to stand and pose. After the lesson, we were told to stay back for 'colour testing'. A woman asked us to choose if we wanted to buy a day/night or a day+night make-up kit. I selected a night make-up kit which consists of three eyeshadow colours and basic make-up items such as a blusher, concealer, mascara, lip liner, eye liner, etc. We were made to pay a deposit of $200. My make-up kit cost $401. As I did not bring enough cash, I paid $150 first and was given a receipt. I was told to pay the rest by the third lesson.

That night, I received an SMS from a friend telling me about the many complaints made against this company. I went online and discovered that there were many forums and blogs railing against the company. I made a printout of these unsavoury comments with the intention of clarifying matters with the agency as I already had doubts on my mind. Without even bothering to look at the list, the 'corporate planning executive' dismissed the bad press as propaganda by their competitors.

A friend of mine asked why the professional make-up sets we are told to buy did not even come with their own brushes when we were made to pay an exorbitant price of $400-$550. The woman grew defensive and challenged us to make a police report. I asked why there were so many negative comments about the company and she became angry and rude. She even resorted to calling me and my friend names.

One of my friends who attended the modelling class as well called her parents down as they wanted to get back the deposit they had paid and pull their daughter out of the course. After a long argument, they reluctantly told the parents they would be refunded. But once the family were out of earshot, we were told that they was no way anyone of us would be getting refunds.

The purpose of this letter is to warn other girls who are thinking of signing up for modelling lessons. Be very careful who you sign up with.

Yvonne Tay Sok Leng (Miss)