UTAR Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM), in collaboration with M3EC Millennium Sdn Bhd, organised a webinar titled “Digital Marketing - A Career Shaped by Digital Transformation” via Microsoft Team on 5 April 2022. 

The invited speaker was Chris Chong Zi Qi, the founder of My City Stories 城市日志 and project manager of cacaFly Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Chris Chong is a UTAR alumnus with a background in Journalism in Chinese Media. In his talk, he shared his study life and his journey of transformation from a journalist to a digital marketer in 2018. “I learned a lot from the three-year course at UTAR. I’ve particularly improved in areas concerning my mindset and practical skills. During my study, the university provided me with many opportunities to practise, as well as adequate facilities such as studios and MacBook for learning,” he said. He added that he had also learned about using useful software tools such as the Adobe applications and was involved in many activities such as interviews and video production. 

He talked about his journey of gaining experience as a full-time journalist at Oriental Daily after graduation, and how he found himself drawn to the vast world of digital marketing. He mentioned that there was a massive trend in e-commerce and digital marketing in 2017, which disrupted many businesses and people’s lives. “A lot of people and their careers were influenced by the trend. I was one of them,” Chris Chong said. He resigned from being a journalist in 2017 and started exploring the area he was interested in and full of potential—digital marketing. He then joined cacaFly Malaysia Sdn Bhd in 2019. In 2020, he founded My City Stories with his UTAR friends, where the aim of the platform was to share warm and high-quality content in the form of a log with the power of stories.

“It is necessary to doubt and question yourself at every stage of your life,” he said. He shared some ideas for what to do after graduation, as well as how to reduce the anxieties of figuring out a career path. He also shared his work experience and gave some tips on how to keep ahead of the competition. The webinar ended with a Q&A session.