(From left): Thon Ding Fong, Yip Jia How, Tan Jia Lok and Liew Hung Hian holding up their certificates and trophies. 

Just after emerging Champion at the Deloitte Tax Challenge 2018, TAR UC students – Thon Ding Fong, Tan Jia Lok, Liew Hung Hian and Yip Jia How once again stole the spotlight at the Deloitte SEA Tax Challenge 2019, held in Bangkok, Thailand from 28 February – 1 March 2019 where they won 1st Runner-up.

The announcement of their win came as a pleasant surprise for Jia How as it exceeded his expectations. “We were kind of stunned when our team name was announced because our opponents were really strong in this competition. All of us are Champions of the Deloitte Tax Challenge in our respective countries so we could really feel the heat of the competition.”

“This has truly been a valuable learning experience for me seeing that this is the first time I have participated at international level. Besides that, I was able to make new friends from different countries and learn about their respective cultures and way of thinking.”

Naming Singapore as the strongest competition, Hung Hian shared that team morale soared when they were able to beat them. “They were older and much more knowledgeable than us. Plus, they could speak much better and their ideas were more creative,” he shared. “We were impressed by their tremendous amount of confidence that they demonstrated but at the same time, we felt pleased that we were able to beat them.

“At international level, we were required to solve more complex cases which were beyond our learning syllabus,” he commented when asked the difference between competing at national level versus international level.

Agreeing with his teammate, Ding Fong also weighed in on the obstacles their team faced during the competition. “The competition mainly addressed Based Erosion Profit Shifting (‘BEPS’) of which we have limited knowledge as it is beyond the scope of what we learnt in school. Fortunately, our team had good communication and we understood each other’s strengths and weaknesses therefore enabling us to come up with a good strategy to tackle the competition.” He also took the opportunity to thank their lecturers – Mr Michael Yeo Thiam Swee and Mr Chong Geok Chuang for the regular study sessions that they had in preparation for the competition.

Ultimately, the team shared that competing at international stage had given them more insight on their individual strengths and weaknesses and broadened their minds.

“My biggest take-away is the friendships that I have formed with many remarkable people during the competition. From tax leaders to bright young minds from other countries,” shared Jia Lok.