SINGAPORE — For nearly a decade, veteran Singapore actress Chen Xiuhuan had made True Fitness part of her weekly routine. She exercised there about three times a week, knew the trainers and familiar faces, and held what she described as a lifetime membership dating back to 2017.
Then, almost overnight, it was over.
Chen said she discovered the gym chain’s closure after opening the True Fitness app, shortly after she had been planning her next workout. True Fitness and True Yoga had been placed under provisional liquidation effective September 10, with their Singapore clubs ceasing operations as part of the process.
The sudden shutdown has affected far more than one celebrity member. As of 6pm on September 11, the Consumers Association of Singapore, or CASE, had received 241 complaints involving more than S$609,000 in reported losses from unused memberships, packages and other services.
For Chen, however, the biggest surprise was not simply losing access to a gym.
It was how little warning there appeared to be.
‘Where Do I Go From Here?’
Chen, who turns 61 in October, said she had been a True Fitness member since 2017 and had visited the gym almost three times a week over the years.
She described the workouts, classes, trainers and friendships as a regular part of her life, making the abrupt closure particularly difficult to process.
Just before the shutdown, she had been preparing to book another workout.
Then the app told a very different story.
Chen said she was left wondering where she would now go for her regular exercise and “adrenaline fix”, describing herself as both sad and disappointed over the sudden end of a routine she had maintained for years.
A Two-Week Delay May Have Saved Her From a Bigger Loss
There was one piece of fortunate timing.
Chen told Lianhe Zaobao that she had recently completed a package of 24 personal training sessions, which were paid for separately from her membership.
She had intended to purchase another personal-training package.
But her daughter returned from overseas, and Chen spent about two weeks with her instead.
That delay meant she had not yet paid for another package when True Fitness shut down.
For other members, the financial consequences may be much more serious.
CNA spoke to one customer who had paid more than S$6,000 for a lifetime membership around eight years earlier. Another member had paid S$2,640 in June for a two-year membership with an additional year of complimentary access.
Others had prepaid for personal-training, Pilates or yoga sessions they may now be unable to use.
Chen Says Getting Money Back Could Be Difficult
Chen told Zaobao she believed the possibility of recovering money from her membership was extremely slim.
That was her personal assessment, however, rather than a formal ruling on how claims will ultimately be handled.
The exact amount consumers may recover will depend on the liquidation process, available assets and the legal priority given to different creditors.
CASE has contacted the provisional liquidators and said it is seeking clarification on how consumers can submit claims for unused memberships and prepaid packages.
The provisional liquidators appointed are Goh Wee Teck and Lin Yueh Hung of RSM SG Corporate Advisory. Extraordinary general meetings for True Fitness and True Yoga are scheduled for October 7, when creditors’ voluntary winding-up is expected to be proposed.
More Than S$609,000 in Reported Consumer Losses
The scale of the fallout became clearer within hours of the closure.
CASE initially received 28 complaints involving more than S$63,000, but by the evening of September 11 the tally had jumped to 241 complaints and more than S$609,000 in reported losses.
Those losses relate to unused memberships, prepaid packages and services.
The watchdog has urged consumers with outstanding True Fitness or True Yoga packages to seek assistance and advised the public to be cautious about making large upfront payments for long-term service packages.
The speed at which complaints accumulated illustrates one of the biggest risks facing customers when gyms, beauty businesses or other service providers rely heavily on prepaid contracts: consumers can suddenly become unsecured creditors when a company fails.
Employees Were Caught Off Guard Too
Members were not the only ones surprised.
CNA reported that employees received messages late on September 10 telling them to collect their belongings because the outlets were closing. Staff later gathered at the company’s Claymore Hill headquarters, where provisional liquidators explained the claims process.
Some employees said they were owed salary, commission or notice pay.
The Singapore Fitness Alliance has since stepped in to help affected employees and freelancers look for new jobs, working with labour and employment-support organisations.
Chen also expressed concern for the staff, particularly employees with families and foreign workers whose livelihoods could be affected by the shutdown.
What Went Wrong at True Fitness?
True Fitness and True Yoga’s Hong Kong-listed parent, Kontafarma China Holdings, said the Singapore companies could no longer continue operating because of their liabilities.
The parent company described the challenges facing the business as “unprecedented”.
It pointed to increasingly fierce competition from boutique gyms, fitness facilities in condominiums and residential developments, as well as online workouts, mobile apps and virtual coaching.
But the financial figures reveal the depth of the problem.
The True Singapore Group recorded approximately HK$181.2 million in revenue but a HK$34.3 million loss in 2025.
By August 31, 2026, unaudited accounts showed approximately HK$204.5 million in assets against HK$633.8 million in liabilities, leaving net liabilities of about HK$429.3 million.
The parent company said it had continued providing cash support, but the Singapore operation remained under severe liquidity pressure.
Ten Singapore Fitness and Yoga Outlets Affected
The True Singapore Group operated 10 fitness and yoga locations across the True Fitness, TFX and Yoga Edition brands.
Members arriving at locations such as Great World and Millennia Walk on September 11 encountered shuttered entrances and closure notices.
At Great World, CNA reported that a notice said the landlord had re-entered the premises and forfeited the tenancy.
Some customers said they had been exercising normally just one day earlier.
Others told Singapore media they had recently renewed memberships or had been approached about new packages, contributing to anger over how abruptly the business stopped operating.
This Is Not True Group’s First Regional Exit
The shutdown also carries uncomfortable echoes of True Group’s earlier retreat from other Asian markets.
The group exited Malaysia and Thailand in 2017, while its Taiwan operation ceased business in 2025.
The Malaysia and Thailand closures later became the subject of litigation in Singapore.
In a 2022 judgment, Singapore’s High Court found that former True Group CEO Patrick John Wee Ewe Seng had mismanaged those closures, including allowing long-term memberships to continue being sold despite knowing of impending shutdowns. Wee is no longer the company’s CEO.
That historical case is separate from the current Singapore liquidation, and there has been no equivalent court finding regarding the circumstances surrounding the 2026 closures.
Still, the history is likely to intensify questions from customers about how prepaid memberships were handled as True Fitness’s financial difficulties worsened.
A ‘Lifetime’ Membership Meets an Unexpected Reality
For Chen Xiuhuan, there appears to be no major unused personal-training package to recover because of the fortunate timing of her daughter’s visit.
But the episode carries an irony that many other long-time customers will understand.
A “lifetime membership” sounds permanent.
A gym business is not.
After nearly nine years of workouts, familiar trainers and a routine built around True Fitness, Chen is now searching for somewhere new.
For hundreds of other members, the more pressing question is not where they will exercise next.
It is how much of the money they paid upfront they will ever see again.
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