The first impression that comes to our mind when people talk about quality education is the kind of education that not only gives students the essential knowledge and skills that match the job market requirements but also develops students holistically. This means that quality education providers will strive to develop students into all-rounders who not only excel academically but are also active in co-curricular activities, including organizing large-scale events and activities that involve hundreds of participants, actively participating in academic and/or sports competitions etc, besides upholding professional and moral etiquettes and actively engaging in meaningful community service projects.
UTAR is no exception. UTAR prides itself on being one of the reputable quality tertiary education providers that offer the most reasonable and affordable tuition fees among the private universities in Malaysia. According to the National Graduate Employability Index presented by TALENTBANK, UTAR is voted Top 3 in Graduate Employability among all of the private universities in Malaysia. This recognition is 100% determined by leading graduate employers in Malaysia. This recognition showcases that UTAR graduates are able to secure jobs very fast (usually within 1 - 6 months) upon graduation, thus indicating that the graduate employers have confidence in the quality of UTAR graduates and are happy to welcome and develop UTAR graduates into full-fledged professionals.
A team of academics, namely Ms Foo Pik Yin, Ms Chin Yoon Mei and Ms Loh Chun T’ing from the Department of Commerce & Accountancy, Faculty of Business and Finance, UTAR (Kampar Campus) are truly honoured to interview four UTAR graduates and gathered valuable insights regarding their background, career achievements, how UTAR programmes have laid a strong foundation for their further postgraduate and/or professional qualifications attainment, and also career advancement. The four UTAR graduates who participated in this interview are Mr Ong Zhan Hao, Mr Ong Zhan Ye, Mr Chen Chee Kit, and Ms Fong Mi Lyn.
Formerly a Genting Malaysia Berhad scholar, upon graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Accounting, Mr Ong Zhan Hao proceeded to work as a Finance Executive at Genting Malaysia Berhad handling financial reporting, management reporting, administration and tax-related tasks for the entire Genting UK Group. “I have to praise UTAR for providing an excellent quality education for me in my Accounting Degree study, especially those accounting profession subjects such as Financial Reporting, Management Reporting, Tax, Audit and Finance subjects. Due to this, I have a strong foundation to sit for professional examinations of ACCA and passed all ACCA professional papers with above-average marks with only one attempt. Besides this, due to the strong foundation, skills and knowledge accumulated during my Accounting Degree study at UTAR Kampar, I manage to perform my tasks well and professionally. Thus, I was trusted by my superiors in the workplace and was given opportunities to handle various types of tasks (including advanced-level tasks) independently instead of only handling simple routine tasks”, Ong quipped. Zhan Hao is now a qualified ACCA and MIA member and is now taking a short career break to complete a Master in Business Administration (Corporate Governance) at UTAR (Sungai Long Campus).
Mr Ong Zhan Ye, who was a Penang State Scholar, is now an accomplished Senior Analyst based in Deloitte & Touche LLP (Singapore). Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Accounting, Mr Ong Zhan Ye worked as an Audit Associate at PwC Malaysia from 2019 to 2022, before joining Deloitte & Touche LLP (Singapore). “Starting my career as an audit associate, my daily routine starts from vouching for supporting documents to validate the amount recognized in my client’s financial statements. Besides of vouching, I also have to proceed with data cleansing when the client provides us listing generated from the system. On top of that, I also have to obtain an understanding from client pertaining to the business process that might have an impact on the figures recognized. With the progress in my career, skills required to survive moving from managing work to managing people as a senior analyst (my current position). I need to ensure that not only my part can be delivered on time, but the entire project can be completed on time. As the contact window of multiple stakeholders in an audit engagement, I need to manage the expectations of the client and manager, build rapport with the client, provide guidance to my subordinate to resolve the audit issues identified and report to the manager/ partner. During my tenure with PwC Malaysia, I have joined a program called Digital Accelerator. As part of the program, PwC has invested in us to learn numerous digital tools such as Alteryx, Power BI, Python and also Machine Learning by attending online courses provided by third-party educational organizations (Udacity). At the end of the program, I have automated several audit procedures with the aid of digital tools aforementioned and also obtained a Nano Degree in Machine Learning, Business Analytics & Data Analytics from Udacity and also a certificate from PwC Malaysia. In addition, I had been virtually seconded to PwC Austin for an IT Audit project for a reputable Fortune 500 company. In the project, I will report directly to managers and partners located in PwC Austin US and liaise closely with the overseas client to obtain necessary audit evidence. The exposure of this project made me able to analyze potential audit issues arising from IT Control deficiency and mitigating control that could be implemented to minimize the negative impact. I had built a robust foundation in UTAR that make me able to understand the concepts of accounting and rationales behind the conditions to be met in recognition of the 5 elements in financial statements (i.e. Equity, Liability, Asset, Revenue, Cost). It is helpful for me to adapt seamlessly when moving to higher levels of the technical knowledge in ACCA exams. Resources provided by UTAR that aided to build strong foundation including library and databases subscribed by UTAR as well as all the friendly and helpful lecturers I had met in the Faculty of Business and Finance during my 3 years’ time in UTAR. Overall, all the technical knowledge I learned from UTAR had prepared me to be ready for the corporate world. On top of that, interpersonal skills learned from group assignments and Final Year Project (FYP) when coordinating with team members whom we newly met in UTAR was challenging and it is somehow similar to the audit industry where we are randomly assigned to a team with new faces and work together to get things done on time”, Mr Ong Zhan Ye illustrated. Zhan Ye is now a qualified ACCA member.
Upon graduating from Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Banking and Finance in October 2021, Mr Chen Chee Kit worked as a Personal Financial Consultant at OCBC (Malaysia) Bank Berhad from December 2021 – April 2022, before joining Ambank (M) Berhad as a Relationship Manager. Chee Kit holds three licenses awarded by The Malaysian Insurance Institute (i.e. Certificate Examination In Investment-Linked Life Insurance (CEILI), Pre-Contract Examination For Insurance Agents (PCEIA) & Pre-Contract Examination For Life Insurance (PCIL)). Besides this, Chee Kit has also passed the Investor Protection Professional Certification (IPPC) examination awarded by the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers. Chee Kit is now pursuing Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification. “From my perspective, UTAR is a good platform for students to start learning the right way to communicate with their course mates and lecturers. Through communicating with the lecturers in UTAR, I learnt to view things from different perspectives. The channel of communicating with every single person is different and it is a skill to tune the right channel during the communication process. Good communication skills can assist an individual to develop good relationships with others. This is one of the main things that I learnt during my UTAR life. All of the lecturers whom I encountered in my UTAR life have shown passion for teaching and even leading students. All of the lecturers and professors whom I encountered tend to be extremely responsible when they were transferring knowledge to me”, said Mr Chen Chee Kit.
Ms. Fong Mi Lyn, a Bachelor of Communication (Honours) Advertising graduate, is the Country Manager of Dine Inn Malaysia. Dine Inn is a Singaporean start-up company that focuses on being a one-stop community marketplace that connects the makers and lovers of food. “In the first year of my current job, I worked as a Digital Content Creator. The responsibilities I held during that time include managing social media accounts, brainstorming contents, doing graphic design and video production. After that, I received a promotion to become the Country Manager, the position I’m currently holding. My responsibilities include managing and leading my team, focusing on developing my company’s business aspects, and continuing with any design projects that are needed. My company is considerably a new business in Malaysia. When the website launched in Malaysia, I carried out User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with my team to ensure all the functions were working properly. Regarding how UTAR education has helped me in laying a strong foundation to progress further, UTAR has provided a strong foundation in terms of knowledge and skills required for helping me to land this current job and also maintaining it. When I began as a Digital Content Creator, I was able to adapt to the workflow quickly and carry out my work efficiently thanks to the subjects thought at UTAR as well as experiences acquired during my internship. Since the pandemic hit, things have been changing at an alarmingly fast rate whereby various activities have been digitalized. It would be great to explore more on how each industry has been affected by it”, Ms Fong Mi Lyn shared.
In a nutshell, a university’s teaching and learning practices can make an important difference in a young graduate’s life. University education should also instil graduates with an appreciation for other people’s development. Tertiary education should also give students opportunities, choices and a voice when it comes to growth and dignity, security, work safety, and job satisfaction, besides preparing them for participating in the economy and broader society. When universities see quality in terms of human development, their role becomes more than churning out workers in an economy. Universities will have the mandate to nurture ethically responsible and more rounded graduates who are better equipped in pursuit of a better society, socially, economically, and politically.
