The team celebrating the success after being announced as the Northern Regional Heats Champion. (From left to right): Tan Jye, Chong Hsien Leon, Revathi Naidu A/P Rejaram Naidu, Cha Chin Seng, Pong Wen-Xin Isabelle, Lee Peng Qing and Mr Johan Lim Kii Geat, Associate Dean, Department of Management, Faculty of Accountancy, Finance and Business.
TAR UC has once again emerged as a credible contender in the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales ('ICAEW') Malaysia Regional Business Challenge when TAR UC team was named as the Northern Regional Heats Champion. The northern regional competition which was held on 21 April 2018 was organised by ICAEW and International Council of Malaysian Scholars & Associates ('ICMS'). There are altogether three heats in the competition namely the Northern, Southern and Central regions. 20 teams competed in each region for the Champion and 1st Runner-up spots. The two top teams from each region will then compete in the Malaysia Heats Finals and the two top teams from the finals will represent Malaysia in the ICAEW Southeast Asia Regional Business Challenge Grand Finals to be held on 17 May 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The 20 teams that competed in the Northern Region heat were divided into 4 groups where each group consisted of 5 teams. TAR UC team consisted of Tan Jye, Lee Peng Qing, Chong Hsien Leon, Cha Chin Seng, Pong Wen-Xin Isabelle and Revathi Naidu A/P Rejaram Naidu who are all studying the Bachelor of Commerce (Hons). Each team was required to solve a real life case study and present their thoughts and solutions to a panel of judges. The judging criteria for each presentation included communication and presentation skills, team work, time management and content.
Hsien Leon shared the challenges faced by his team in the competition. He said: "Lack of time was the most apparent challenge for all of us as the competition demanded us to prepare a comprehensive solution for a real life case study in 1 hour. However, due to the numerous coursework assignments that we had to do for our degree programme in TAR UC, we are well-equipped with the experience to do effective analysis and discussions and present our thoughts and solutions in a systematic manner. Although with time constraint, we succeeded in delivering a presentation packed with sound solutions and facts."
After being selected as the first team in its group, TAR UC team then went head on with the top teams from the other groups before being named as the Northern Regional Heats Champion. The students had to solve another case study and present their findings to a panel of judges and Hsien Leon explained the factors that led to their success. "TAR UC’s Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) programme also prepares us for the ACCA Fundamentals programme in which one of the subjects in this programme is P3 Business Analysis. What we have learnt in this subject came in very handy for us when we were constructing our presentation and facts. I also have to highlight that our lecturer, Mr Johan Lim, is an excellent mentor with his spot on strategies on how to answer the questions as well as a source of support that helped us to win this round," Hsien Leon continued.
As the Northern Regional Heats Champion, the team won for themselves RM1,200 cash prize as well as certificates and will proceed to the next round of the challenge which is the Malaysia Heats Finals which will take place on 3 May 2018.
