One of the students was Tiong Li Na, who is now an accountant in one of the largest companies in Sibu. She was also one of the prides of MPI, not just because of her career success, but also because of her excellent achievement in the ACCA Audit and Assurance paper in 2014.
She was placed first in Malaysia and 12th worldwide for her outstanding achievement. She had her lecturers at MPI to thank for her success.
“I think the lecturers knew where the pressure is when it comes to ACCA. They went through the experiences themselves, and I am very grateful for their dedication,” she said.
ACCA is a leading global professional accounting body offering a prestigious qualification for careers in finance, auditing, and business management. It is widely regarded as challenging, requiring significant dedication, technical skill, and time commitment.
Tiong took up the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) qualification in 2012 after receiving her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results. A science student from SMK Tung Hua, she obtained straight 10As in her SPM.
Initially, she wanted to further her studies in pharmacy, but for some reason, she had second thoughts about pursuing pharmacy studies. Unable to decide what to study, her aunt, who also had an ACCA background, encouraged her to take up ACCA. One of the subjects that Tiong took for her SPM was accounting.
So, that was one of the reasons why accounting was one of her considerations. Her parents knew that MPI was well-known for its accounting programme and also offered ACCA classes.
They encouraged her to take up CAT at MPI. Tiong started her CAT in 2012 before continuing with ACCA in 2013.
“It was stressful. There were no assignments to help you. It was all about study and preparation for examinations, and whether you would pass depended entirely on your ability,” she said.
To help students prepare for ACCA examinations, apart from providing guidance on the papers, MPI also provides past years’ examination papers for the students to try. However, the effort must come from the students too.
For Tiong, her preparation was quite ‘fixed’ – studying and doing past year papers.
“I think past years’ examination papers are very important. I would read them many times, and I would analyse them to try to understand the answers; then I made notes. I think taking notes is important.
“Before examinations, I would read my own notes, and that was how I prepared,” she recalled.
According to her, her study life here was fun, as she met a lot of friends when she started her CAT programme. Then, when she started her ACCA, some of her friends left MPI to study abroad.
Since technical mastery in ACCA is non-negotiable, as the study progressed, the levels became increasingly difficult. The number of students in her class also became fewer.
“We progress through levels; if the students cannot pass this level, then they cannot progress. So, they have to re-take the paper to progress to the next level.
“For me, by God’s grace, I was able to progress smoothly until I finished, together with a few other students. And I truly admired the dedication of the lecturers at MPI; despite there being only a few students, they made sure the classes would continue,” she pointed out.
Her efforts and hard work paid off when she received the national award in 2014 for her achievement.
After graduating from MPI, Tiong worked as an audit associate in an audit firm in Sibu. After working there for five years, she became an accountant in one of the largest companies in Sibu. She remains at that company today.