A high-octane traditional Chinese lion dance and Cheng & Co’s Managing Partner Professor Dato’ Dr Chua Hock Hoo greeted our guests from Oklahoma City University (OCU) who flew down to Malaysia to witness Cheng & Co Foundation’s SUPER Leadership Programme’s Graduation Ceremony. Held at Cheng & Co’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, the delegation from OCU comprised:
- Dr Robert Henry, President of OCU, and his wife Dr Jan Henry
- Dr Ken Buchanan, Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs, OCU
- Dr Steven C Agee, Dean of Meinders School of Business, OCU
- Mr Marty O’Gwynn, Vice President for Academic Advancement & External Relations, OCU
- Ms Kelsey Griswold, Miss Oklahoma 2013
- Mr Kyle Dillingham, one of Oklahoma City’s finest musicians.
Other special guests who were present includes Mr Marc Wong – President of Persatuan OCU Alumni, Ms Loh Wei Yuen – Head of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Malaysia, Ms Tanya Worsley – Global Professional Accountancy Senior Executive of Kaplan Financial, Dr Nurmazilah Dato’ Mahzan – Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and Mr Kamarul Ariff Marzuki – Head of Business Development of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
Upon the arrival of all special guests, two significant cheque presentation ceremonies took place – the first was an amount of RM100,000 contributed by Mr Marc Wong to Cheng & Co Foundation, followed by Cheng & Co Foundation’s RM105,000 contribution to ICAEW as a study aid for students selected by ICAEW to pursue professional ICAEW qualifications.
This contribution further underlines Cheng & Co Foundation’s aim to play an important role in developing highly skilled accounting professionals for the domestic and regional accounting industry. The graduation ceremony took place at Cheng & Co’s Leadership Centre and began with Ms Kelsey Griswold sharing her life’s journey with the audience and her enthusiasm for travelling the world to support worthy causes especially for women and children.
Soon after, Dr Robert Henry spoke about the prestige of OCU and its core traditions that are still upheld today. He also enlightened the audience on the importance of practise and encouraged all graduates of the SUPER Leadership programme to keep learning and practising to achieve their accountancy and leadership dreams.
Further inspiring and insightful speeches were delivered by Professor Dato’ Dr Chua, Ms Tanya, Ms Loh and Dr Nurmazilah, among others. The ceremony eventually moved on to the moment everyone was waiting for. The moment that will make a major difference in the lives of an elite group of talented individuals. The moment that these individuals will cherish for the rest of their lives.
The Head of Cheng & Co’s Malacca office Ms Tay Lee Hoon was honoured for her graduation from the Women In Leadership (WIL) Malaysia programme – jointly organised by ICAEW and TalentCorp – which has tremendously boosted the firm’s ambition to empower women towards building successful careers.
Subsequently, Cheng & Co’s Leadership Director Mr Well Kam took the stage to introduce the SUPER leadership training programme and welcomed the 2016 batch of graduates that comprise the 24 talented staff on stage to give an illustration of the five modules before presenting them with the graduation certificates.
The graduation of these 24 talented staff is not only a career defining moment for every one of them, but also underlined the importance Cheng & Co puts in employee training and development. These staff, and future graduates, will be at the forefront of the firm’s continued progress towards the firm of the future in 2020.
The day was also momentous for Marc Wong as he was conferred The Honorary Doctorate by Mr Robert Hendry and Dr Ken Buchanan which followed his hooding ceremony and the reading of his citation by Dr Steven Agee. Marc was also announced as a member of the Board of Governors of Cheng & Co Foundation.
The audience were then treated to a wonderful violin performance from Kyle Dillingham before the event was brought to a close.
