Industry advisors share insights and experience

UTAR’s Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) organised Industry Advisor (IA) Day on 12 March 2019 at its Kampar Campus. It was organised for the students to learn and gain some inputs and experiences from their respective IAs.

Present during the event were IAs for Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting, namely Jabil Circuit Sr Regional Finance Director Kim Chin Kuang and PKF Tax Sdn Bhd Director Fan Kah Seong, along with IA from Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Entrepreneurship, Dato’ Lai Yit Loong, the Senior Vice President of Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FBF Dean Dr Au Yong Hui Nee, academics, staff and students.

During the sharing session, Kim shared his career journey in his talk titled “Accountancy: A Career for Your Future”. He shared the transitions that took place in his accounting career, from being an external auditor to being the Vice President of Finance in one of the multinational companies in Malaysia. Besides, he also shared his perspectives on the student career roadmap and the knowledge required to become a successful accountant. In addition, he advised the students to move forward and be parallel with the rapid changes in technology. “The accounting profession is cited as one likely to be impacted by Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, the role is not facing impending extinction as AI will usher in a new era where accountants’ roles will be more dynamic,” he said.

Dr Au Yong (right) presenting the souvenir to Kim

The sharing session was then continued by Fan. He shared his experience of taxes in a wide range of industries including plantations, trading, construction, property developments, IT services, logistics, food and beverages and manufacturing. Fan said, “The updates on recent developments in tax such as the tax amnesty programme will provide a golden opportunity for the taxpayers to come forward voluntarily as the disclosures made would be taken in good faith by the government agency.”

Fan (middle) with the academics

The following session was led by Dato’ Lai. He delivered a talk titled “4th Innovation Wave” which aimed to provide the overall perspective of innovation trends beginning from the first innovation wave to the latest fourth innovation wave. He added, “AI is capable of taking over some of the tasks from human as the world evolves from the first wave, mechanisation to second wave electrical, third wave automation and electronics to the fourth wave— cyber physical systems, internet of things and network. We must identify good cognitive capabilities such as perceiving, reasoning, making choices, learning, communication and many more when performing a task.” In addition, Dato Lai also shared the current job opportunities that are made available in the market as the industry embraces industry 4.0.

Seated at front row: Dato’ Lai (third from left) with academics and students

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Senior Economist Panimoli Kalidass, the IA for Bachelor of Economics (Hons) Financial Economics visited FBF on 20 March 2019. FBF also welcomed another IA for Bachelor of Finance (Hons), the Vice President of Operations and Technology E2 Power Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of OCBC Group) Alice Ng Bee Leng.

Panimoli briefed the students on the hot issues of a trade war between the United States (US) and China. She presented three outlines; understanding of US-China Trade War, Boom or Doom and its impact on Malaysia. She also explained that the trade deficit mainly occurred in the electrical and electronics products. She added, “As a result, the US imposed various trade actions since early 2018, which subsequently led to retaliation by China. The trade war between these two countries has a direct and indirect impact which could affect other countries in the rest of the world.” She also further explained that the trade war has both positive and negative impacts on Malaysia in the short and medium term.

The talk was then continued by Ng. The talk titled “How 21st Century will affect Industry or Profession” highlighted the challenges of demographic and population changes and their significant impact on economies. She also provided some strategies to build and maintain sustainable profits in an organisation and also strategies to nurture a good culture of leadership as the world evolve.

Panimoli sharing “Trade War, Boom or Doom”

(Seated at front row) Panimoli (second from right) with academics and students

Ng sharing details about the vast opportunities available in the banking industry 

Department of Finance Head Kuah Yoke Chin presenting a souvenir to Ng (right)

Dr Au Yong (second from right), Panimoli and Ng with academics


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