She said this not as a warning, but a reminder to all aspiring accountants that accountability and excellence are the only way for them to build trust and go far in their career. Violet learned this from her accounting lecturer Wong Hie Fung when she was a student at MPI in 1999.
Violet later excelled in her career in the accounting and auditing industry for about 17 years.
“She is my inspiration. I can still remember till this day what she told us on the first day of her class that in the trial balance, even if there is a slight imbalance, as an accountant, we must find it out because that is our responsibility,” she said.
Violet explained that she chose accounting because she wanted a career that would give her the financial freedom. Her mother suggested her to take either business or accounting.
“I asked my mum, which one can help me to earn more money, she said ‘of course it is accounting’. That’s why I took up accounting programme at MPI because I love money,” she said.
She took Diploma in Accounting, ACCA and LCCI at MPI. Studying at MPI was also a challenge for Violet as her English was not very good. But she worked hard.
She looked through the dictionary, she paid attention in class, did her assignments and answered past year questions as many times as possible. That was how she became one of the top students in her class.
After completing ACCA Level 2, she went to Kuala Lumpur to finish her ACCA level 3 after encouragement from her lecturer. Everyone in the accounting world knows that ACCA examination is challenging with passing rates generally ranged between 40 per cent and 55 per cent globally. Violet was an ACCA straight passer, and the qualification gave her a solid foundation in her accounting and auditing profession.
After that, she worked as an audit assistant for four years in Kuala Lumpur. With a desire to grow and excel in different aspects in accounting industry, she became an account executive for a year. Then she returned to Sibu and worked as an audit executive, later promoted to senior audit executive and then as an audit manager.
For about 17 years, Violet had a great career in accounting and auditing industry, then, she decided to switch career to education. According to her, it was not a difficult decision especially when she was seeking work-life balance. The only difficulty was she had to overcome her introverted self to get her message across.
“Working in an accounting industry is a great career, one that could give you financial freedom, but at times, you need to sacrifice your time,” she said.
She is now a lecturer at MPI teaching accounting and auditing. One of her colleagues was Wong Hie Fung who is teaching financial accounting.
“The world is so small, I came here in 1999 as a student and then after years of working outside, and now we are colleagues. I even taught a student whose parent was my teacher,” she enthused.
She said teaching is such a joy, especially when her students pass all her subjects especially ACCA students.
“ACCA is not easy, it all depends on you, there is no assignment or test to help you earn your marks. It is just final exam.
“It can be very difficult, but what I want the students to know is that accounting can be fun; that is why we say, even if there is only one cent difference, you cannot ignore. Me, as a lecturer will help them, but as students, they must also put in their hard work,” she said.
Wong Hie Fung also shares the same dedication to students’ success. In fact, she said MPI’s accounting programme provides a solid foundation for students to launchpad their career and in academic success.
“Some students who had left MPI shared with us that the solid foundation that our accounting programme provided made their studies abroad much easier,” she said.
Wong, who has almost 30 years teaching experience in MPI said over the years, she learned to use different teaching methodologies to meet the different needs and different understanding of today’s students’
She said it is challenging but she found joy in it as well because it is an opportunity for her to push herself forward.
“If you don’t push yourself, you will always be where you started. When you are able to move forward, you become better in everything that you do,” she said.
It was this same mindset that helped her to become the lecturer she is today. Wong remembered when she was first asked to join MPI as an accounting lecturer at MPI in 1997, she doubted her ability to teach. She only had experienced as an auditor for nine months before joining MPI. However, the then principal the late Dr Ting Chek Ming convinced her that as long as she put her students first, she could be a good lecturer.
Violet was one of her students and her success in the 17 years in the accounting and auditing world showcased the importance of a strong foundation in accounting knowledge and skills. Both lecturers now hoped to give the same to the young aspiring lecturers, passing the torch of integrity to the next generation.
Never ignore an unbalanced sheet.