SAGC Newsletter Edition #1

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SAGC NewsletterEdition #1

August 2010


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To the SAGC Committee members

and staff of Sunway-TES who have

all helped make this possible

Special thanks


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Contents

1 SAGC Mission Statement 1

2 Message from the Director of Sunway-TES 2

3 Message from the President of SAGC 3

4 Message from the Editor of SAGC 4

5 SAGC Committee organisation structure 6

6 People behind the scenes 7

7 Angles: 13Can we live solely on love?

7. Upcoming events: 16

Page


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SAGC

MissionStatement SAGC aims to pave the way towards the betterment of you,

our members, our peers, our friends. It is meant to be more

than your average fancy-newsletter-each-quarter alumni.And it was with this in mind that the following vision and

mission were developed:

Vision

SAGC will strive to be a dedicated and solid platform ofresources, knowledge sharing and networking amongst

Sunway-TES graduates, focusing on adding value to

respective individuals career paths and work life balance.

Mission

1. To promote knowledge and experience sharing

amongst peers in various fields and industries for

continuous self-development;2. To keep peers up-to-date on the latest developments in

the industry;

3. To provide guidance and support to graduates in

career planning and preparation to join the workforce

as professionals; and

4. To encourage building and maintaining relationshipsbased on mutual trust, respect and continuous support

amongst peers, graduates and students.

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Hi readers!!

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this

newsletter and even be curious about what SAGC is

and has produced. This alumni strives to be your

avenue to share, contribute, learn and experience greatthings. Even after college, you still belong to an alumni.

And this will only work if you are interested of course.

And we really hope that you are.

After much blood, sweat and tears, finally, our first

edition of the SAGC newsletter is out! This is all thanksto my wonderful editors for putting in such hard work

and commitment despite their actual workload that is

also bestowed upon them by their employers. =D Great

job guys and thank you! What would I do without you

guys (Hire new people!) Kidding!

This newsletter is an avenue to reach out to you, our

readers, to keep you connected and updated with all theupcoming events organised by us. In this newsletter we

will bring you new and exciting write ups and perhaps

even things that you will surprise you. I do hope thecontent of this newsletter will interest you and benefit

you in more ways than one. Hope youll enjoy this read.

Happy Reading!

Message

from thePresident

ofSAGC

3

Melissa Tan

President of SAGC


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Message

from theEditor of

SAGC

Contrary to popular belief, SAGC does NOT stand for

Square Accountants Geek Club. But hey, dont get me

wrong if youre square, or an accountant, or youre ageek, its perfectly alright. We love you anyway. Or at

least well try. =)

Alright alright, before my president throws a book at me,

I was joking. So turn those frowns upside down! What is

SAGC, you ask? It really stands for the Sunway

Accountancy Graduate Club.

SAGC represents more than just an alumni association.

Its certainly more than the Wikipedia definition; anassociation of graduates. Its more than networking and

getting some old friends together. Its really about

creating a bond between all of us. A bond that

transcends the year we graduated in or the clique we

fraternised with in classes. A bond of sharing knowledgeand war stories. One that allows us to learn from each

other as well as to form new relationships. Get the

picture?

Sounds like a tall order? Well it is. Maybe even as you

read this youre wondering how that can ever beachieved. But with that being said, if were going to have

a vision about something, why not set our sights on a

higher goal? And Ill tell you how we can achieve that.

(continues on page 5)

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(continues from page 4)

An alumni is more than its committee. We can sitaround all year organising events and writing

newsletters like this one, but thats not going to do any

good if we cant get you involved. So when youre done

reading this newsletter, I know your first impulse will beto chuck it aside and forget all about it. But if you dare to

be different, please do find out more about us. Visit our

Facebook page. Get involved. Do that, and who knows,you might be pleasantly surprised at what youll find.

And now with all the serious pish-posh out of the way, I

can actually say something about this newsletter. Ourvery first one in fact. Finally, its out!

This newsletter is an avenue to reach out to you, ourreaders, to keep you connected and updated with all the

upcoming events organised by us. So get out your

diaries, berries, scraps of paper or whatever it is you

note important dates on and take note! Do come forthese events as a start, and like I said, you just might be

pleasantly surprised. Were not stodgy, stuffy dorks you

know. Well not ALL of us at least.

Enjoy!

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Message

from theEditor of

SAGC

Kenneth Koh

Editor of SAGC


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SAGC

CommitteeOrg

Structure

6

President

Melissa TanVice PresidentMichelle Kho

Assistant SecretaryFong Meng Hui

SecretaryKuan Yee-Zhen

TreasurerYip John Wai

Event Management

Khor Kim Li

Head ofEvent Management

Nicole Soo

Head of EditorialKenneth Koh

Event Management

Teoh Jun Seong

Editorial

Choong Woon

Wei

Editorial

Aruna Devi

IT & Design

Tan Wui Li

Head of IT & Design

Chai Chun Howe

Public Relations Oon Kim Kim

Head of Public Relations

Yeap Boon Hean

Head of Logistics

Suthaharan

Logistics

Elaine Pong


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People

Behind theScenes

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SAGC is a crazy bunch...

and I'm the ring leader!

No idea how I got myselfinto this. =D

Melissa Tan

Hey there, I'm Michelle! But

that's enough about me =)

SAGC, as you will soon see, is

more than just accountancy oraccountants It's about

professions (because

accountancy offers you morethan an accountant's job

description); the people (i.e.

the graduates cos this is, after

all, a graduates club) and theperson- who is, well, basically-

Let us all get to know moreabout our committeemembers...

starting with the ringleader.

YOU! =D Please do check out this newsletter; get a

peek or an insight on who we are, what we do, and join

us! *Brings in TV commercial voice* Cos we can't spell"Graduates" if we didn't have "u"! Hehe, sorry, just

couldn't resist. NEXT!

Michelle Kho


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People

Behind theScenes

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Hi all,

First of all, I would like to say"welcome" & HELLO to everyone who

is reading our very 1st newsletter.

*applause*

Just a simple and quick introduction ofmyself. I am the vice secretary of

Sunway SAGC. I graduated from

SunwaySunway ACCA in June 2009 and I am currently working

with Ernst & Young in audit line.

Cheerio =)

Fong Meng Hui

the wishes that they have

job, and your assignments! (aren't they all the same?)

Feel free to join us, and your memories will never be the

same again! Satisfaction guaranteed! :)

Yip John Wai

If you want to take a break

f r om y o ur d ai l y e x ci t in g

( c ou l d b e a t o rt ur e t oo )workload, then SAGC is the

r i g h t p l a c e t o b e !

S A G C i s t h e u l t i m a t e

getaway from your work, your


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People

Behind theScenes

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Hi All..

As the first decade of the new

millennium comes to an end,

something great has only just begun.Is it the World cup fever ?? No. Is it

the Iron man 3 sequel ?? No. Its just

the most awesome powderful

canggihcanggih bestest coolest hyper active craziness

*breathes* super duper all outstanding committee forSAGC 2010 / 2011. I'm Jun Seong and I'll be part of the

event management team planning and trying our best to

make things as fun as they can get.

Teoh Jun Seong

the things that come firstto their minds when asked todescribe themselves

Heading the event management

department with awesome

members is my first time. Thank

you for giving me chance to learnand grow up with the team :)

Nicole Soo


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People

Behind theScenes

the one who insisted thathe alone must have theentire page dedicated to

him

This morning I googled for the meaning

of Kenneth (thats my name) and

interestingly it literally means born of

fire. Now Im not trying to blow my owntrumpet here but that really sounds like

just another way to say Hes hot!Deesnt it?

Moving on, being part of the Editorialteam for SAGC, my role is basically to play around withwords and come up with something that people would

want to read. So I hope you enjoy this very first edition

of our newsletter, stay tuned for more facts from

Kenneth in future issues, and continue reading down tothe article by my fellow editor William, who lives in

Glasgow, Scotland, with his wife, three kids and ninedogs. Or at least thats what he tells me.

Kenneth Koh

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People

Behind theScenes

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Greetings everyone! Im Aruna!!

Description: Certified TV addict,

chocolate-lover and soon to be

Facebook junkie who dreamsthat she owns Astro channel 121

as it bears her name!

Has a love-hate relationship with numbers and earns

a living by auditing them.

Aruna Devi

Warm greetings, folks. My

grandiose purpose here is to twist

the truths of the world with my

out-of-the-world views andperspectives.

As Marcus Aurelius once put it,"Everything we hear is an opinion,

not a fact; everything we see is a

perspective, not the truth".

That is not to say that I will deliberately sabotage the

technical columns, of course.

Choong Woon Wei

the plots that they schemewith a kindly grin


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People

Behind theScenes

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Hi, I am Wui Li and I graduatedfrom the Dec 2008 ACCA exams.

Being part of potentially one of the

very first ACCA alumni is somethingspecial and I strongly encouragefellow graduates to join us :) After

all "Life is like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you're gonna

get." So why not try something new,you might end up enjoying it :)

Cheers!

Tan Wui Li

Hi, I'm Chun Howe. I'm

the Superhero of the

accounting world -sleeping late nights,

stopping all bad things

from happening, saving

little babies and old-aged, grannies from

economic

and the views that theywant to share with you

economic disasters. Hahaha, yes, I'm an auditor! In theSAGC, you get to know more people, exchange more

ideas, and value-add to yourself - about your peers, your

industry and your life! ~ Chai Chun Howe

Aloha! An ACCAgraduate who does not

think like one and act

like one. Ironically, I amback to Sunway-TES as

an employee, rather

than as a student. Part

time job staff in SAGC to join the happening,

diversified and radical committees. ~Elaine Pong


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Angles

13

Can we live solely on love?

ByWilliam

It is said that although love is good to have, it does not fill thestomach.

In case you are mistaken, I am not referring to familial or romanticlove here. I am referring to the love we have for the work that we do.

It is a much-publicised statement these days: You have to love whatyou do. If youre a student reading this, you would go, Of course!How can it be otherwise? If you were a young working adult, youmight go, I like what Im doing now. If not, I would change my job

immediately. If you have been working for many years, your replywould be a lot more varied depending on circumstances. Somewould say that loving what you do is a necessity, whilst otherswould say that it is merely a luxury that precious few can afford. For

them, they would do a work that they know best or could generatethe most income, because they have other commitments to fulfill.

I fall under the category of the young working adult, and therefore,the experiences I share shall be from this particular perspective.

As a young working adult, it is important to find something that you

love to do. Bear in mind that you will be doing this same stuff for thenext thirty years of your life, and maybe even more (as retirementage increases). If you choose to do something you never liked,

would you somewhere down the line lament not doing somethingelse you wanted? Ideally, wouldnt you would want to do somethingthat you truly believe in? You would want to work only for somethingthat you are deeply passionate about. Whichever route you choose,

there are several considerations that we would all encounter, whichI will further expound.

Here comes consideration #1. Some people know what they want;

for others, it doesnt come immediately. What happens if youhappen to fall into the latter category? The common way throughthis obstacle seems to be to follow the safest path pick a job that

offers the greatest mobility in terms of transferable skills. Soundsvery profound, but in a laymans words, it is to simply pick a job thateveryone applies for. That seems to minimise error rate, doesnt it?Subsequently, there is more time to think about what job truly

excites; and if you should move on, where to.



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Angles

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Then comes consideration #2. Is what I am interested to do relevant

in the marketplace? To put it even further, will it be relevant in the

marketplace in the foreseeable future (foreseeable future equates tothe expected working years ahead of you) or is it a dying industry orskill? Needless to say, this involves a combination of in-depth

market research and the intangible thing we call intuition, the resultof which is an educated speculation. To boost the chances ofmaking a correct move, reading the papers and magazines wouldhelp as much as keeping in contact with friends and other

acquaintances who could help offer advice and guidance.

Then comes consideration #3. What if I become disinterested in

what I do several years down the road? Should I take up something

that enables me to have wide-ranging skill sets so I can movehorizontally across industries or professions more easily? I wouldopine that, no matter which route you choose, there would be give-

and-take. If you are to be a jack-of-all-trades, then the drawback isthat career progression will be hampered. If you are specialised,then the drawback is that you might have to start all over if youchoose to switch your field of work.

Consideration #4 is something that is on top of everyones mind,which is the remuneration package offered. At the end of the day, all

of us need money for living. There are many expenses in life, and agood remuneration package ensures that this would be one lessmatter to worry about. A suitable remuneration package shouldproperly recognise the level of contribution to the work done, as this

reflects the value an employer places on the contribution made. Agood remuneration package will motivate the employee to give theirbest, as it is the most direct way for an employer to convey theirappreciation for the efforts of the employee.

Finally, comes consideration #5. Irrespective of whether you loveyour work to bits or no, there will always be the people element

involved. The three different levels of relationship: boss, colleaguesand subordinates, are essential towards creating a positive workingenvironment. Personally, I rate people relationship to be the mostimportant consideration of all because of the following scenarios:

You love your work to bits, and you love the people you workwith. This creates the much sought after winning formula.

You love your work to bits, but you just cannot stand the sight ofthat @*#! anymore. This contributes to a low working morale.




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Angles

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iii. You do not particularly love your work, but you love the people

you work with. This contributes to a better working morale.

iv. You do not particularly love your work, and you just cannot

stand the sight of that @*#! anymore. Morale? What morale?

Having good people relationship remains the foundation to a

positive working environment. Given the many characteristicspresent in an organisation, there are bound to be differencesbetween the staff. Admit it, there will always be that one person (atleast) whose guts you hate, or whose *insert characteristic* you

hate. It is something that all of us will need to learn how to live with,because as much as we want it to, this issue will not disappear. You

can call it an omnipresent issue, for it is like the polluted air that webreathe. Therefore, the simplest thing we can all do for each other

would be to practise some tolerance and acceptance. If we do notcare to make that effort, why then would others make it for us?

So, back to the question: can we live solely on love? I say we can,not just on love for the work we do, but also love for the people wework with. I hear a majority shouting out for the love for a propercompensation, and I agree with that as well (which needs no further

emphasis, but there really is no harm repeating it a thousand moretimes, right?). It is an ideal thing to have, but I still believe that it is a

target worth striving for, because if we do not hope and worktowards it, there is no chance of getting it. The hope may be a

glimmer, but a glimmer is better than nothing.

And with hope, let us strive to achieve our goals; while recognising

the roadblocks, but also with the perseverance to get back up afterevery fall we have.



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Look out for the following upcoming events coming your way:

Sunway TES 21st Graduation event

Date: 2 October 2010

Venue: Sunway Convention Centre

Here we celebrate graduates from the Certified AccountingTechnician (CAT), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants on England

and Wales programmes respectively.

Dinner event: Spectrum

Date: 6 November 2010

Venue: Sunway Convention Centre

A chance to reconnect, reunite and simply have fun. Like itsnamesake, it will be a night full of colour (metaphorically), and itwill be an event filled with great memories.

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Upcoming

Events


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Spectrum. It's more than just another calendar event. More thanjust a dinner. The splash of colours - more than just a work of art,although undoubtedly it does look very nice. So why the referenceto the colours of a rainbow?

It's because that's who we are. Diverse cultures and races.Diverse tastes and senses of humour. Diverse ages andbackgrounds. Diverse hobbies and pet peeves. And yet here weare, all under one roof, one commonality a 4-letter 2-alphabetword; ACCA.

Over the years we in the accounting profession have picked up alaundry list of descriptive nicknames. Some have called usnecessary evils. Some call us squares. Others think of us as thebackbone of every company. Not to mention bean counters,number crunchers, etc. A distinct few have even had the honour ofbecoming the most famous document shredders in history.

So add all of the above up and what do you get? A potpourridiversity. From the wealthy chief executive to the fledgling just

learning how to burn the midnight oil, all are welcome here atSpectrum. Feel free to meet new people and form newrelationships. Head up to business rivals and shake their hands.Forget business cards and get phone numbers. Mix around.

After all, isn't that what 'spectrum' means? Unity in diversity.

The Spectrum gathering and dinner will be held on the 6th ofNovember 2010. Be there and join us in the fun!

For further information, please kindly contact:Margaret, 03-74918725

[email protected]@gmail.com

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Upcoming

Events

Documents

SAGC Newsletter Edition #1