I want to share with readers my experience with this school franchise in Suzhou, which to my knowledge is still directed by a certain Kristen Ng, a large Singaporean woman with a taste for deception and deceit.
The owner of at least this branch is also a Singaporean with an equally cold-hearted nature.
When I　had worked there rather recently, I had been given info from a co-worker about the infighting among the upper-level management that ran the franchise which led to the resignation of the president. This would be the first ominious clue that I　was working at a defective school located in Suzhou, China.
The school program isn't half bad, though. The FT works with small classes of kids with an emphasis on phonics and teaching them to read. The coursework is modular and the hours are reasonable. But at the Suzhou branch (there's another one in Guangzhou), it was　Kristen, the owner, and the C-staff who made working there an unpleasantry. There was one of those infamously unhelpful Chinese FT assistants whose name was 'Gift', 'Joy', or some other ironic, childish name. But rest assured she was anything but. In addition to her bad breath (although not an uncommon trait here), she was repulsive in other ways. She would fabricate stories about me to see how quickly she could get me in hot water. (Again, not an uncommon trait among Chinese FT assistants.) She eventually succeeded and I　found myself in a classroom with Kristen for an improptu meeting so she could tell me that I　being canned. I didn't feel good about this, but it was made all the more painful given the fact that it was my birthday that day. This was known among　Kristen and the management there as well.
Further adding insult to injury was her sincere promise to give me a positive reference regardless of the firing because according to her, "I was an excellent teacher." However, while I was trying to secure another job I had the feeling that I was lied to because of a strange follow-up conversation I　had with a recruiter who had been dealing with a school I　interested in working with, that in turn knew of ICR's contact info careof the positive reference letter she had given me. It turned out that she had said something obviously bad about me to the school when contacted. A belligerent liar she certainly was!
And it's worth noting that there had been another female teacher that had fallen out with Kristen just before I arrived at ICR in Suzhou. As is often the case, a FT is given this information by another FT only after they've signed up with the particular school.
My best advice is to avoid this branch of I Can Read! for there are some vindictive self-interested Singaporeans who will regard you as nothing but a disposable white bag of flesh.