Coming out tops in CIMA exam

EMERGING as the country’s top scorer for a professional level examination came as a pleasant surprise for Lee Shou Cheng (pic) recently.

When he took his Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Strategic Case Study (SCS) examination in February last year, the prize winner was part of the first batch to be tested on the new syllabus.

CIMA had sent a letter to notify him of the win in April but the mail only reached him last month.

“This was my first attempt at taking the CIMA professional qualification examination, and the A-Star Programme was really challenging,” said the Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) Bachelor of Accounting (Honours) 2020 graduate.

He recalled having to undergo an external intensive tuition course to familiarise himself with the change in the examination syllabus.

“Luckily, TAR UC’s accounting programme covers most of the required syllabus. I only needed to do extra reading for some areas and practise with CIMA materials,” he said in a press release.

Lee added that the bachelor’s programme helped prepare him for the examination as it exposes students to different areas of studies that are interrelated.

“Linking each area allowed me to think from different perspectives and come up with more comprehensive ideas. Also, we had been given case studies since our first year,” he said.

Such practice, he shared, enabled him to extract information faster and construct his answers effectively, thus allowing him to manage his time more efficiently during the examination.

Lee, who has found employment in a multinational company, is also thankful for the soft skills he had developed at TAR UC.

“Soft skills and presentation skills are equally important as technical knowledge if you want to excel. As a student, I learnt how to improve my communication skills and work well with others,” he said, adding that in his current role, he has had to work closely with people from different departments and even different parts of the world.

“This achievement is my confidence booster. When studying for this professional examination, I challenged myself to surpass my limits and do better than I had ever done before.

“Today, I can proudly say that I am someone who knows exactly what he wants and does not lose sight of his goals, until they are achieved,” he said.

The CIMA A-Star Programme is a unique one-exam pathway for high achievers to become Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation holders.