It is good to see that some concern divers are making a point to contribute to the safety aspect of the local diving community.
But just to clarify certain concerns brought up in this thread, on behalf of PADI, we would like to take the chance to clarify some misunderstanding and confusions of terms that are being used. Even some senior and experience instructors will not be able to know the difference properly.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Sphere of Learning
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In PADI system, we employ the sphere of learning. I will not go in depth what The Sphere of Learning is but I will cover what is the concern of the divers of this board.
In the first inner circle, we call them self learning. This is know as the basic course, Open Water as most of you know it by. Regardless of agency, divers SHOULD learn the fundamentals of diving, concepts, safety, proper use of equipment, environment and some physics concepts of diving.
In the next sphere, it is task-oriented. This is where divers are task to do certain things under the supervision of an instructor.
Many divers are confused with the term Advanced Diver Course. In PADI system, we DO NOT HAVE the Advanced Diver Course as many of you call it by.
The first full-fledged tier is call the PADI Open Water Diver Course followed by either Adventure Diver (which is not common in Singapore) or the PADI ADVANCED Open Water Diver course. As the name implies, it is an Advanced Open Water Diver course and NOT AN ADVANCED Diver course.
The difference? As an Advance Diver (in accordance to some agencies), you will need minimum dives, certain experience and more skills being learned. A misconception by most people, as an "Advanced Diver", it is more or less of equivalence to PADI Master Scuba Diver. You will need to have Rescue Diver, and a minimum of 5 Specialties. Which means that divers will have no less than 20 dives under their belt.
The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course as mentioned, is a task oriented course. It is meant to be easy and allow divers to experience new form of diving experience under the supervision of a PADI Instructor.
For instant, diver A after completing his PADI Open Water Divers, will love to explore night diving. But he is not willing to commit himself to a full blown specialty course. So he can opt to complete the Adventures in Night Diving. Should he fall in love with it, you can then complete the remaining dives to earn his Specialty in Night Diving. Adventure Dives are known as the "tip of the ice-berg" and it allows diver to taste the specialty before completing it.
Having said that, if a diver A have tasted five different adventures, which includes Deep and Navigation, that earns him the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification.
It is not TRUE entirely to see a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver is not train well. The fact is, that they are train only the basics of that particular specialty.
Sad truth is, most PADI Instructors are not fully aware of the PADI System of Learning and a full understanding of The Sphere of Learning. Hence when they promote diving, Basic -> Adv Diver.
And most divers stop at the "Adv Diver" thinking that there are Advanced Divers. This is ENTIRELY not true. They are just Advanced Open Water or slightly more Advance than Open Water Diver

I hope this little write up will educate more divers about the difference in PADI Continuation Education program.
If you have any other questions, do feel free to contact me here and I will be glad to answer them