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CIMAmembers and students

Dear

Best wishes,

Irene TengRegional DirectorSouth East Asia and Australasia

The newly renovated CIMA SE Asia’s office in Kuala Lumpur was officially opened by Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA, during his visit to Malaysia in July. We also leveraged on Charles’ visit to fortify the relationship and collaboration with our stakeholders, especially our university partners and the Accountant General’s Department. The strength of our partnerships has invariably helped fuel student growth in the region.

The new Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation, launched at the beginning of this year, has also contributed to a positive member growth. CGMAs can now look forward to keeping their skills at the cutting edge through in-depth reports and practical tools available at www.cgma.org.

For new members-to-be, we are bringing, once again the ever popular face-to-face membership assessment session to the region. This is happening on 29 September in Kuala Lumpur and it offers a unique opportunity for instant membership. Newly admitted members can then celebrate their achievement with family and friends at CIMA’s graduation ceremony to be held in Singapore on 3 November and in Kuala Lumpur on 11 November.

We are also pleased to inform that the newly established CIMA’s Centre of Excellence (COE) for South East Asia saw the first meeting of its research panel taking place in July in Kuala Lumpur. The panel is represented by researchers from universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. Having a regional COE will ensure that the areas of CIMA’s research and related outputs are market driven and relevant.

The first eight months of the year have flown by and we have reached several milestones in the region, foremost amongst which is the positive student and member growth that we have achieved as at end August. The growth was +123% for students and +107% for members, over the YTD target. There was also significant student growth in Vietnam, attributed to our increased marketing activities in the country this year.

In line with CIMA’s global agenda in raising the ethical bar, CIMA SE Asia has signed the corporate integrity pledge and a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Institute of Integrity to undertake joint activities. At the regional front we are actively supporting seminars/conferences that are related to ethics and integrity.

The CIMA SE Asia facebook is now garnering a following of students from the region and we aim to use this social media tool as the main form of communication with Gen-Ys. Check out and like our page at www.facebook.com/cimaseasia

Finally, we bade farewell to Dr Y C Lee, our first Chairman of the South East Asia Regional Board (SEARB) whose term ended in July. Our heartfelt thanks to Dr Lee for leading the formation of the SEARB in 2011 and for his invaluable contributions to the Board. Michael Eow, the newly elected Chairman, takes over the helm, together with Eugene Lim, the Vice Chairman. Michael was actively involved the in various committees and Council of CIMA Malaysia Division for nearly 20 years and was its President from 2006-2008. With the new leadership on board, we look forward to further growth and progress for CIMA in the region!

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New skills, existing talent

This special report seeks to establish whether finance professionals are expected to take on a broader role in contributing to their organisation’s long term performance. It analyses what the constraints might be for finance to gain a broader mandate, and the impact on the skills required for the management accountant.

The fast track to leadership: the challenges, opportunities and action plan

Understanding the changing mandate in finance in the context of the global business landscape is important for CGMAs to remain fit for purpose and progress their career. This report identifies the skills, experience and behaviours management accountants need to consider to succeed in the organisation.

Managing responsible business – a global survey on business ethics

This global research explores the importance of business ethics, ethical performance and ethical management within organisations.

CGMAs – connecting all aspects of businessHave you used your CGMA designation yet? If you are a CIMA member, show the world that you are a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) by putting the CGMA designation after your name. Your CGMA designation indicates that you’re a trusted, expert strategist connecting all aspects of business.

How to develop a strong and interdependent team

One of the roles of a financial leader is to be the developer of the team’s skills and talents. This tool provides information on how financial leaders can build strong and interdependent teams.

How to set the right performance targets: a 10 step target setting tool

Targets should encourage people to succeed and drive superior performance. This 10-step tool, based on research by the Cranfield School of Management, will help CGMAs better understand and set performance management targets.

CGMA case study: Navigating ethical issues

This case study places you in the role of corporate controller for a large public company, making decisions that will not only affect your future, but the future of many others. The facts of this case cover integrity and objectivity, confidentiality, internal accounting controls, and procedures for investigating and reporting irregularities.

In line with CIMA’s global agenda in raising the ethical bar, CIMA SE Asia has signed the corporate integrity pledge and a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Institute of Integrity to undertake joint activities. At the regional front we are actively supporting seminars/conferences that are related to ethics and integrity.

The CIMA SE Asia facebook is now garnering a following of students from the region and we aim to use this social media tool as the main form of communication with Gen-Ys. Check out and like our page at www.facebook.com/cimaseasia

Finally, we bade farewell to Dr Y C Lee, our first Chairman of the South East Asia Regional Board (SEARB) whose term ended in July. Our heartfelt thanks to Dr Lee for leading the formation of the SEARB in 2011 and for his invaluable contributions to the Board. Michael Eow, the newly elected Chairman, takes over the helm, together with Eugene Lim, the Vice Chairman. Michael was actively involved the in various committees and Council of CIMA Malaysia Division for nearly 20 years and was its President from 2006-2008. With the new leadership on board, we look forward to further growth and progress for CIMA in the region!

Reports

Here are some reports and tools that will help you stay connected to the pulse of your profession. More are available at www.cgma.org

Tools

How to develop a strong and interdependent team

One of the roles of a financial leader is to be the developer of the team’s skills and talents. This tool provides information on how financial leaders can build strong and interdependent teams.

How to set the right performance targets: a 10 step target setting tool

Targets should encourage people to succeed and drive superior performance. This 10-step tool, based on research by the Cranfield School of Management, will help CGMAs better understand and set performance management targets.

CGMA case study: Navigating ethical issues

This case study places you in the role of corporate controller for a large public company, making decisions that will not only affect your future, but the future of many others. The facts of this case cover integrity and objectivity, confidentiality, internal accounting controls, and procedures for investigating and reporting irregularities.

CIMA SE Asia is supporting CIMA’s global ethical agenda through several initiatives. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) to collaborate on training and research, information sharing and special projects relating to ethics and integrity.

In June this year, we signed the IIM Corporate Integrity Pledge, joining 100 organisations that have also taken the pledge such as AirAsia, Shell Malaysia and Google Malaysia. View the pledges at http://cism.my/cismv2/

We also supported IIM’s Corporate Integrity Systems Malaysia (CISM) engagement seminar on 14 August to help enhance corporate ethics and good governance in state-run organisations. A CIMA-IIM ethics roundtable will take place in October, focusing on

Raising the ethical bar

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CIMA’s Centre of Excellence (COE) for South East Asia got off to a great start with its first meeting on 18 July at the CIMA office in Kuala Lumpur. The COE is an innovative research centre and collaborative project with universities, the public sector and key industry players in the region. The output of the COE will include research papers and local case study material that will reflect CIMA's role as the leading professional body for management accountants, both regionally and globally.

Members of COE South East Asia include researchers from the Malaysia Accountant General’s office and universities from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. The research proposals for the COE will focus on developing and promoting new thinking, with particular emphasis on management accounting.

Irene Teng (left), Regional Director of CIMA SE Asia and Australasia, speaking on ‘Professional integrity and accountability’ at the CISM Engagement Seminar.

Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Bin Salleh (left), President of IIM and Charles Tilley (right), Chief Executive of CIMA, with the signed MoU.

CIMA SE Asia establishes Centre of Excellence

First meeting of the Centre of Excellence South East Asia in progress.

embedding ethical values into the corporate culture of an organisation.

In Singapore, we supported the Corruption and Compliance South & South East Asia Summit in September.

Executive room for VIP visitors.

Open concept in the staff area.

Visitors’ reception area.

CIMA SE Asia is proud to announce the opening of its newly

renovated office in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, by Charles Tilley, Chief

Executive of CIMA, on 11 July 2012. The opening featured a lion

dance performance to usher in good luck and prosperity for CIMA.

The new office has an open space layout which promotes free

interaction and transparency in the workplace. The clean and

modern concept embraces and utilises the CIMA brand in a perfect

balance of presence and elegance.

Social expansion

SE Asia office takes on a new look

Charles Tilley (right) and Irene Teng (left), Regional Director of CIMA SE Asia and Australasia, at the opening of the CIMA SE Asia office.

Created for Malaysian students in the past, the CIMA SE

Asia’s Facebook page now garners a following of students

from Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and

more to come. Our dedicated group of page managers

constantly post exciting shout-outs, announcements,

reminders, web links and interesting articles (not

necessarily related to accounting) to keep up with our

audience’s appetite for updates from us. We aspire to use

this page as our main channel of communication

between our students and us. So keep yourself in the

loop too - ‘like’ the CIMA SE Asia’s Facebook page

(www.facebook.com/cimaseasia) today!

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The two training rooms, ‘Leverhulme’ and

‘Raja Aziz’, were named after CIMA’s

founders. Lord Leverhulme founded CIMA

in 1919 while YM Raja Dato’ Seri Abdul

Aziz Raja Salim founded CIMA in Malaysia

in 1977.

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What a thrilling final! 14,000 students around the world

took part in the CIMA Global Business Challenge 2012 but

only 88 (22 teams of four students each, representing 22

countries) made it to the global final in Sri Lanka on 23-24

July. The Indivisibles team from Exeter University, UK, was

crowned as global champion. They presented a business

case which was assessed by a panel of

industry experts from organisations

across the globe, including

CIMA, Barclays and Unilever.

The champions provided

innovative and practical

solutions that balanced

attention to detail with

the appreciation of broad

strategic issues.

GBC country champions battle it out in Sri Lanka

Overall, the SE Asia and Australasia

regions did well. The second and third

places went to Australia and New Zealand

respectively while Team Patriots from the

Philippines won the video competition.

The Future Business Leader award went to

Sizwe Nxumalo of South Africa.

The SE Asia teams had a wonderful experience in Sri Lanka.

Team Power from Nanyang Technological University,

Singapore, said: ‘We had so much fun at the CIMA GBC global

final in Sri Lanka! Despite not winning the competition

eventually, it was a fruitful learning experience for all four of

us, as we gained exposure to a well-organised international

competition and made friends with many international

contestants. Colombo was such a charming city!’

GBC global champion - The Indivisibles from UK.

First runner up - Eva Consulting from Australia.

Sizwe Nxumalo of South Africa - proud winner of the Future Business Leader award.

Second runner up - New Dimentions Consulting from New Zealand.

The beach party after the GBC results were announced.

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To encourage membership applications, we organised several

career profile workshops in major towns throughout Malaysia

in July and August where participants received feedback from

local facilitators on their completed career profile forms and

resumes. A similar workshop was held in Singapore at the SMa

Institute of Higher Learning which sponsored the venue. These

workshops helped prepare potential members for the

face-to-face membership assessment sessions to be held in

Kuala Lumpur on 29 September.

Come November, we will celebrate the success of new members

at graduation ceremonies on 3 November in Singapore and on

11 November in Kuala Lumpur. Familes and loved ones will be

invited to share the happy occasion so stay tuned!

Membership beckonsVolunteer at CIMA’s ‘A time to share’ programme

CIMA has a long history of producing exceptional individuals

who have led to the success of many established organisations

globally. We are currently inviting our esteemed members

who are passionate about the profession to share their

invaluable experience and be an inspiration to current and

potential CIMA students.

Through the ‘A time to share’ programme, a new initiative by

CIMA SE Asia, you will volunteer your time for a good cause to

inspire students to pursue the CIMA qualification and to help

current CIMA students to progress to membership. The

programme will focus on various areas such as career

workshops, group and one-to-one mentoring sessions and

other avenues that can guide and inspire the students.

Kindly contact Saritha at 03-77 230 286 or email

saritha@cimaglobal.com for further information on how

you can be a part of this programme.

Enhancing CIMA’s profile

A career profile workshop in progress.

Raising CIMA’s profile in the region, through supporting and

participating in key events, is crucial for greater awareness of

the CIMA brand.

The 3rd Global Accounting and Organisational Change

Conference 2012 held on 14-17 July and hosted by Sunway

University, Malaysia, was a prestigious event where Charles

Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA, was given the honour to

officiate its opening and to present a keynote address on

‘Rebooting business: valuing the human dimension’. The

human dimension aspect in business was also debated at the

CIMA-Taylor’s C-suite roundtable on 16 July. This event

featured key industry leaders in Malaysia, including KPMG,

Teach for Malaysia and IBM. Dr Noel Tagoe, CIMA Executive

Director of Education, moderated the session.

In Singapore, we supported the Business Analytics Forum in

July and the Public Accountants Conference and the Regional

CFO Summit in August. The Singapore Business Times

continued to feature current and thought provoking articles

in the CIMA page.

The C-suite roundtable organised by CIMA SE Asia and Taylor’s University, Malaysia.

A dialogue session at the conference. (From left) Dr Noel Tagoe, Executive Director of Education; Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA; Tamil Selvan, CEO of Century Software.

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Since the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)

with the Accountant General’s Department (AG) of

Malaysia in May this year, CIMA SE Asia has been working

closely with the office of the AG to implement training and

skills development programmes for the benefit of its

finance staff. The relationship with the AG’s Department

was further enhanced with the courtesy visit of our chief

executive, Charles Tilley, to Datuk Wan Selamah Wan

Sulaiman, Accountant General of Malaysia, in July.

Accompanying Charles Tilley was Dr Noel Tagoe, CIMA’s

Executive Director of Education, who gave an engaging

briefing on ‘outcome based budgeting’ to senior

accountants at the AG’s office.

Building CIMA partner relationships

Charles Tilley (left) with Datuk Wan Selamah Wan Sulaiman, Accountant General of Malaysia.

The children from GOLD having an enjoyable time at the CIMA Raya Open House.

Coffee mugs made by the children from GOLD.

CIMA SE Asia played host to guests and partners who came to enjoy the sumptuous spread of food from lunch till tea time in the spirit of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

During his visit to Malaysia in July, Charles Tilley also took the

opportunity to pay a courtesy visit to our partner universities, Universiti

Utara Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia, to strengthen ties with

them and discuss further areas of collaboration. We also joined

Universiti Teknologi MARA in their roadshows in June and July.

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Students at the UiTM roadshow in Segamat, Johor, Malaysia.

CIMA’s Raya Open House held in September at the Kuala Lumpur

Golf and Country Club was a good opportunity for us to

celebrate the happy occasion of Hari Raya Aidilfitri and build

camaraderie with our stakeholders.

20 disabled children from GOLD (‘Generating opportunities for

the disabled’) also joined us for the occasion and they were very

pleased to see that GOLD coffee mugs were used as door gifts for

the Raya Open house.