Terrence Chong at his workplace.

TAR UC alumnus, Terrence Chong Yeow Chung is soaring high in his career. Currently attached to HNA Capital Group based in Beijing, China, Terrence is currently the Financing Supervisor in the Accounting and Finance Department. He started his career in the company as a management trainee in 2011 before making his way up the corporate ladder to his current position today. In this exclusive interview, Terrence shares some insightful details on his career journey.

1. When did you join TAR UC and what did you study in TAR UC?
   I joined TAR UC in 2007 for the Diploma in Business Studies (Accounting) before pursuing my Advanced Diploma in Commerce (Financial Accounting) in 2009 and I graduated in 2011.
2. Why did you choose to study in TAR UC?
   I knew from a very young age that I would like to advance my education in accounting. Although there were many higher learning institutions that offered tertiary education in Accounting, none of them could be compared to TAR UC’s accounting programme which has a proven track record of producing high calibre business professionals. On top of that, TAR UC has garnered accreditations from professional bodies such as the ACCA, CIMA, ICSA and ICAEW which cements the fact that TAR UC’s accounting programme is of high quality.
3. How did TAR UC’s education help you in reaching where you are today?
   TAR UC’s curriculum has definitely helped me tremendously in my work as I am able to apply what I have learnt in my work. Besides that, my lecturers constantly provided real life scenarios and examples as case studies to expose me to real industry issues and this prepared me way in advance on what to expect when I joined the workforce.
4. What are some of the interesting work experiences you have had encountered in your current workplace?
   I was very fortunate to spend one month in New York to help set up the company’s second headquarters. I gained a lot of exposure and experience during my one month stint in New York such as understanding what were the fundamental measures needed to be taken and the many rules and regulations that we needed to adhere to in order to set up the office in New York. Apart from that, the working culture in China is totally different from Malaysia. In China, it is very important to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills as the people in China place great importance on human relationship. As part of my work is to secure loans for my company, I have to brush up my negotiation skills in order to get the best deals for my company. I find it fulfilling that I am able to communicate and negotiate effectively with different types of people.
5. What are your future plans?
   I am in the midst of obtaining my ACCA professional qualification in two years’ time. And hopefully, with my ACCA qualification, I will be promoted as the Chief Financial Officer in the next 5 years.