MoU with MACS

Tun Ling (yellow shirt), the MoU signatories and MACS delegates after the ceremony

The university signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian Association of Company Secretaries (MACS) at Sungai Long Campus on 29 September 2015.

The special guest invited to grace the signing ceremony was UTAR Council Chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. Signing the MoU were UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik and MACS President Dato William Wei How Sieng. The witnesses for the signing were Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong and MACS Deputy President Tuan Hj Johari Bin Hj Zakariah.

From left: Prof Choong, Prof Chuah, Tun Ling, Dato William, and Tuan Hj Johari

The MoU established a base for UTAR and MACS to facilitate professional and academic development via research opportunities, academic-industrial collaborations, joint industry activities, mutual visits, training, conferences, internships, and exchanges of expertise.

“UTAR students are well-received by industries due to its industrial-driven syllabus, soft skills training, and active collaboration with 198 local and international partners,” said Prof Chuah. Citing the recent employment of some UTAR graduates at Huawei in their United Arab Emirates office, he added, “According to the survey results in July this year, 97.27% out of 2,000 graduates found jobs six months after their final examinations.” He attributed the high employment rate of UTAR graduates to the students’ adaptability to multi-cultural and multi-lingual environments.

Dato William Wei said, “MACS will ensure successful collaboration with UTAR by keeping the university abreast of the changing policies of the Company Secretarial profession. Besides, I’m glad that this MoU provides research and academic opportunities for MACS members at postgraduate level,” adding that, “I believe the MACS representatives could also give talks and workshops on new learning technologies, as well as career and profession development. I look forward to fruitful and meaningful collaborations with UTAR soon.”

“There are vast opportunities for both institutions and I hope this MoU will be the beginning of more collaborative activities for MACS and UTAR staff and students. I emphasise that we not only see this as a means of finding job placements and training for students, but rather advocate and affirm this as a strengthening of the relationship between industry players and the university,” said Prof Chuah.

MACS’s main objective is to promote, improve, upgrade, and advance the professional status of company secretaries in Malaysia. It is an independent, self-regulating local professional body established and registered under the Societies Act 1966 on 30 November 1989 and has been a Prescribed Body under Section 139A(a) of the Companies Act, 1965 since 1 September 1997. Fellows and full Members of the Association are qualified to practise as Certified Company Secretaries. For more information, go to www.macs.org.my.