Hard work pays off
UNIVERSITI Tunku Abdul Rahman’s (Utar) Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting alumna Wan Pui Yee was awarded the High Achiever Award during the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (Cima) A-Star Programme Award Ceremony recently.
Along with six other accounting alumni, namely Hew Jun Jie, Loh Dip Yee, Loh Yee Wah, Kevin Tan Kah Seng, Yan Kit Wai and Chong Jia Hao, Wan also passed the final exam of the Cima A-Star Programme.
Launched by Cima in October 2018, the A-Star Programme is a fast-track avenue for nominated top achievers from selected Malaysian universities to obtain the coveted Cima Professional Qualification upon passing only one final exam, the Strategic Case Study, and fulfilling the requirement of having at least 36 months of relevant working experience.
For Wan, receiving the High Achiever Award was akin to achieving the highest marks out of all the A-Star candidates, as well as being the top scorer in Malaysia.
Currently an FBF Department of Finance lecturer, Wan said, “It’s a joy to know that my hard work has paid off.”
Thanking Cima instructor Cheah Ai Ling for the eight-day intensive revision classes, Wan also thanked Channa Gunawardana and his team of instructors for the online lectures with useful materials and techniques related to the case study.
Wan, who completed her Master of Philosophy degree at Utar, attributed her success to the foundation she gained from Utar’s three-year accounting degree programme, as well as the critical thinking skills she acquired from the Master of Philosophy degree programme.
“Utar’s Accounting programme provided me with comprehensive knowledge and skills in accounting, finance, business and economics. They were essential in helping me prepare for the Cima Strategic Case Study exam,” she explained.
Like Wan, Hew also completed both his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting degree and Master of Philosophy degree at Utar, and is currently a lecturer of FBF’s Department of Commerce and Accountancy.
As one of the nominated A-Star Programme candidates who passed the final exam, Hew concurred with Wan’s sentiment: “The Accounting undergraduate programme taught me business and accounting knowledge through the rigorously developed course structure, while the postgraduate programme taught me to think rationally and critically when writing my thesis.
“The A-Star Programme was held for the first time ever and Malaysia was one of the countries involved in its pilot testing. It is truly an honour that Cima is confident in our students and has invited us to be a part of this pioneer programme,” said FBF Department of Commerce and Accountancy academic Dr Wong Kee Luen.
The university offers over 110 programmes ranging from foundation studies to bachelor, master’s and PhD degrees in the fields of accounting, business, finance and economics, actuarial science, mathematics and process management, agriculture and food science, arts, social sciences and education, Chinese studies, creative industries, digital animation, multimedia and design, engineering and built environment, information and communication technology, life and physical sciences, and medicine and health sciences.
For more details on Utar, visit www.utar.edu.my or call 05-468 8888 (Kampar campus) or 03-9086 0288 (Sungai Long campus).