Quarterly updates from your Malaysia and South East Asia Council Members

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

I was delighted to meet many of you virtually at the 15 July Townhall in which I shared about issues I learned from our June ICAEW Conference and matters that affect our future.  A lot has happened since in the South-East Asia region where collaborations and agreements were established with partners in learning, statutory boards and ministries, and accountancy bodies and federations. In this quarter, ICAEW will continue to engage members with events that fit the occasion as we anticipate not only our Institute Chief Executive but also our President visiting our region.

Launch of Training Film 'All Too Familiar'

ICAEW have been working with the UK Government and Parliament to raise awareness of ICAEW’s work and our members to tackle economic crime. The launch of the third training film titled “All Too Familiar” in London earlier this year signifies the institute’s commitment and efforts by bringing to the fore matters related to money laundering or other illegal activities potentially faced by companies. A similar launch will take place in Singapore as part of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide social event for the members of ICAEW, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. During the in-person event, members from these three major professional bodies will get the opportunity to share knowledge, interact and build connections with one another.

Meeting members in South-East Asia

In the coming months, I will be travelling to different parts of the region such as Jakarta, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and I hope to take this opportunity to meet with our members in person. I look forward to these meetings as we continue to maintain our ongoing engagement efforts with our members.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

In this quarter, I am pleased to highlight the following developments:

Launch of ICAEW Annual Report

ICAEW launched this year’s annual report on 21 April 2022. One outstanding achievement, as mentioned in Michael Izza’s foreword, was the record ACA student intake of 11,049. This marks a huge 18% increase on 2020, and 15% more than our previous global high in 2019. Looking ahead, ICAEW announced during 2021 that talks are underway with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), to explore the potential for working more closely together in the future. The vision driving the discussions is the creation of a single strong federated professional accountancy body with truly global reputation and reach. Please watch this space.

Some key events from across the region supporting the strategic pillars are:

• Development of future accountancy professionals - The ICAEW Annual Report also mentioned the events in Indonesia where ICAEW hosted lectures for hundreds of accounting students at two leading universities, on the topics of safeguarding against cyber threats and how future professionals can mitigate climate change. We also held a joint career webinar in collaboration with Universitas Brawijaya, attended by close to 1,000 accounting university students from across Indonesian. We continued to host our annual work placement event in Malaysia, which saw 100 students meeting up with our top 15 employers to secure training agreements and internships. In Singapore, we hosted seven local Business Case Challenges at top universities and polytechnics with the support of members and Authorised Training Employers, attracting by more than 1,300 accounting and business students. The annual China and Southeast Asia Business Challenge that gathered the best from across five countries in the region.
• Reputation and Influence: We are proud to be the only international professional body invited to join two National Advisory Committees set up by the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam. The committees will develop higher education programme standards for finance and accounting and develop the ASEAN Qualification Reference Framework’s referencing report of Vietnam. Additionally, in Vietnam, we signed an MoU with the Ministry of Finance to support capacity building and talent development of the accountancy profession in the country. A key objective of the MoU is for both parties to jointly map Vietnam’s training programme for the IFRS certification. Lastly, we renewed our agreement to collaborate with the Indonesian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (IICPA), to raise the standard of professionals In Indonesia.

ICAEW – ‘Accountancy Body of the Year’

The 19th PQ Magazine annual awards took place in early May 2022 in London, and saw ICAEW winning the Accountancy Body of the Year 2022 award. It is a testament to the institute’s amazing work in diversity, inclusion, sustainability and putting our key stakeholders at the heart of everything we do. It represents and recognises the achievements of everyone here at ICAEW and I would like to thank you all in helping us to achieve this award in 2022.’

ICAEW SEA Members’ Townhall

I was delighted to meet many of you at our last Townhall on 3 March 2022. In preparation for our next Townhall in July, I welcome your input/suggestions and in this respect please feel free to reach out to me.

Dato' Mohammad Faiz Azmi FCA

Up close with Tan Sri Dato’ Hanafiah Hussain

With an objective of driving ICAEW’s strategic pillar - ‘Building Back Trust in The Profession’, ICAEW Malaysia recently held a hybrid dialogue and interview session with Tan Sri Dato’ Hanafiah FCA, the first Malay Fellow of the ICAEW. He was fundamental in establishing the first Malaysian accounting firm, Hanafiah, Raslan & Mohamad (HRM), which later became Arthur Andersen, which then signed to merge and become Ernst & Young Malaysia in 2002.

During the session, which was attended by 50 members and dignitaries physically, and another 60 online, Tan Sri shared with ICAEW members on how he helped established government-link corporations including the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), the pilgrim fund Tabung Haji, and the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA) under the Ministry of Agriculture to promote Malaysian agro products within and beyond the country.

He also emphasised numerous times the importance to uphold a high sense of purpose, trust and integrity as chartered accountants – in line with ICAEW’s strategic foundation and theme – to all members and the small group of students that were present.

Appointment of Dato Gan Ah Tee as MICPA president

At the recent Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) 64th AGM, Dato Gan Ah Tee FCA was elected as MICPA’s President. From someone who grew up speaking little English to Managing Partner of BDO Malaysia, Dato’ Gan Ah Tee exemplifies the get-up-and-go spirit that has shaped his rise in the professional accounting services arena.

Dato Gan was previously a council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Financial Reporting Foundation, a trustee body responsible for the oversight of the Malaysia Accounting Standard Board’s performance, financial and funding arrangements. He is currently a Council Member of the Malaysia Institute of Accountants (MIA) and a member of its Oversight Committee. He is also the Chairman of the Insolvency Practice Committee of both MICPA and MIA

Dato' Mohammad Faiz Azmi FCA

"I would like to take this opportunity, as Council Member for Malaysia, to wish our Malaysian members celebrating the new lunar year of the Tiger, Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

With the widespread application of vaccines and a better understanding of the Covid-19 virus, we are cautiously optimistic that things will get progressively better and hopefully we have seen the end of repeated lockdowns. As an institute we continue to promote our points of view on the importance of dealing with Climate Change issues, better use of technology in our business and also on initiatives to better nurture and develop our profession.

Closer to home, we have heard members desire to understand better the value of membership and we will continue to communicate how we can better support our members locally and to develop new initiatives to enhance your skillsets. Our local ICAEW members in Malaysia group, led by Kevin Foo, has an ambitious programme of events and get togethers for 2022. I do hope to meet some of you at our events and hope that you have all registered on the LinkedIn ICAEW Malaysia group (link to https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13628138/) for details. Until then, I would like to wish you all again, a Happy New Year!"

Dr Ernest Kan FCA

"As we have ushered in 2022, ICAEW continues to its commitment in taking initiatives and advocating for sustainable business futures.

Your role as a chartered accountant is more vital than ever in helping businesses adapt and drive forward the change that is needed. Lead the movement and join the Race to Net Zero, or find out other ways to make an impact that matters via the ICAEW Sustainability Hub.

As your voice on ICAEW Council for South-East Asia, please feel free to connect directly with me to share your thoughts and feedback on how ICAEW can do better in your region and at the same time better support you. I’m looking forward to interact with you at the March members’ get together virtual event.

In the meantime, here’s wishing you a prosperous and healthy Lunar New Year!"

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Malaysia and South East Asia also have a network of contact members, who are points of contact for members' enquiries on living and working in South East Asia.

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