To many, becoming an accountant may just be another career path. But for someone like me, raised in a humble rural family, it meant everything.
My parents did not understand Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards. They could not define assets or liabilities. But they understood one thing very clearly: their son had a chance to build a better future.
Passing Principles of Accounting in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination was not just an academic milestone. It was hope. It was belief. It was a quiet promise that maybe, just maybe, this path could change our family’s story. And so, I walked that path with pride.
But as I moved further along this journey, I began to feel something I did not expect. That pride was not always shared. No one says it directly. No policy states it openly. But if you stay long enough in this profession, you begin to notice a pattern.
In hiring decisions, promotion pathways, career progression and even in everyday conversations, there is a consistent preference for international professional certifications. These certifications are rigorous. They matter.
Many outstanding Malaysian professionals carry both strong local foundations and international exposure. But over time, something else has happened. In trying to elevate one pathway, we have quietly diminished another.
A message is repeated often enough that it begins to feel true. If you are only locally trained, you are not enough. This is where the issue becomes more than professional.
Professional certification trains a person to perform. It builds technical precision and discipline. But a university education does something deeper. It shapes how a person thinks. It teaches them to question, to connect ideas, and to see beyond the immediate task.
It develops judgement, perspective and a sense of responsibility. An accountant is not just someone who prepares numbers. An accountant signs off on decisions that affect businesses, livelihoods and trust.
University education reminds us that behind every number is a human consequence. If we reduce the profession to technical certification alone, we risk producing individuals who are competent but disconnected.
The most worrying part is not what others think of us. It is what we begin to think of ourselves. I have met experienced professionals who have served for decades, who have carried responsibility, who have earned the respect of their peers. Yet some of them chose not to register as Chartered Accountants in Malaysia. Not because they could not. But because they did not see the value in doing so.
I have heard senior practitioners speak of the title without pride. That stayed with me. Because it made me realise that this is no longer just about qualifications. This is about identity.
If we constantly place greater value on what comes from outside, while questioning what we build within, we risk creating a mindset that is dependent rather than confident.
We may be independent as a nation, but uncertain in our own systems. A country cannot build strong institutions if it does not trust them. A profession cannot command respect if it does not believe in its own foundations. This is not about rejecting the world. It is about engaging with the world without losing confidence in ourselves.
International certifications have an important role. They raise standards. They provide global mobility. They expose us to different perspectives. The issue is not their value. The issue is when their promotion comes with the quiet discrediting of local graduates and institutions. We do not have to choose between being globally relevant and locally confident. We should be both.
I am still proud. I am proud of where I come from. I am proud of the journey I have taken. I am proud of the education I received in Malaysia. But I also know this. Pride cannot stand on personal belief alone.
If the system does not respect its own pathways, if the profession does not affirm its own worth, then that pride will slowly erode. Not because we are not capable. But because we begin to believe that we are not.
The issue is not whether Malaysian accountants are good enough. We already know that they are. The real question is this: do we believe it ourselves? Because a nation that does not trust its own foundations will always look outward for validation, even when it already has the strength within.
MOHD SABRUN IBRAHIM, PhD, C.A.(M), CPA (Aust.)
Accounting department head
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
