Alumni Speakers Series: A Conversation on Professional Services

The 3rd Alumni Speakers Series organised by the Australian High Commission in collaboration with The Malaysian Australian Alumni Council (MAAC), the Malaysian Students’ Council of Australia (MASCA) and the Malaysia Australia Business Council (MABC) on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 spoke about professional services in Malaysia.

The guest speakers include Ms Teresa Chong, Partner at KPMG Malaysia and a graduate from the University of New South Wales; Ms Lim Koon Huan, Partner at Skrine & Co and a graduate from the University of Melbourne and Mr Imran Lum, Associate Director – Islamic Capital Markets at the National Australia Bank and a graduate from the University of New England.

Teresa, Koon and Imran spoke about their respective careers and how their education in Australia played both a coincidental or not so coincidental role in getting them to where they are today. Mr Damian Hickey from the Australian High Commission moderated the session and one of the questions asked was whether their current jobs were their dream jobs. Teresa shared that her parents had always wanted her in the oil & gas or banking industries as traditionally, these industries provide ‘rice bowl’ jobs but she ended up in a leading accounting firm instead which her parents have never heard of. She never regretted her choice of career or company which she has been with for over 27 years as over time, both the banking and the oil & gas industries proved to be not so ‘rice bowl’ jobs afterall. Koon also shared about starting her career with an accounting firm as she has a double degree in law and accounting but decided to pursue a career in law after 2 weeks in a reputable accounting firm. She has been with Skrine & Co for the past 20 years. Imran became a banker by chance as he initially studied to be a chiropractor but due to both his Chinese and Islamic background, he was subject to some form of racism while growing up in Adelaide. Therefore, he decided to put his heritage in good use where he could capitalise on being both a Chinese and a Muslim at the same time which came in timely when the banking industry decided to venture into Islamic Banking and the rest was history.

More than 50 Malaysian alumni from various Australian universities attended the session which was both interactive and informative as the audience asked the speakers questions relating to their career, the current economic outlook and the future. The session ended with some finger food and wine as well as great networking opportunity.

If you are a Malaysian graduate from an Australian university and would like to be invited to future Alumni Speakers Series or other alumni events, please write to us at info@emaac.org by providing the following information:

  • Name
  • Organisation
  • Position
  • Email
  • Handphone No.
  • University Graduated from
  • Qualification(s)