What are your current role and responsibilities? How is the work going so far?
In 2011, I joined The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) as a teaching assistant and embarked on my education career since then. I had been working at OUHK for 7.5 years and in 2019, I joined the Education and Training (E&T) department of the Institute to work on the development of the new QP and its promotion. In 2022, I rejoined OUHK, now Hong Kong Metropolitan University, as a Senior Lecturer. Alongside teaching financial reporting and Hong Kong taxation for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, I also assume an administrative role as the Programme Leader of Accounting.
What are the most rewarding and challenging aspects of your role?
When it comes to teaching, I get a sense of satisfaction when students are able to understand difficult accounting concepts or legal concepts in tax after my lesson. I try my best to illustrate the concepts using daily life examples and examples from the news or well-known organizations. As Programme Leader of Accounting, I oversee operations such as student in-take, daily running, examination and evaluation of accounting courses under the accounting programmes. This is challenging because I not only need to handle students’ case and address their study needs but also manage and improve the accounting programme as a whole by working closely with my colleagues and supervisor. Despite the heavy workload, it is rewarding working with colleagues in the Accounting Programme Team as well as administrative staff in organizing student events. In 2023, a seminar series called Masterclass Series was held in which guest speakers such as partners from the Big Four were invited to come to the class. The series combined the technical knowledge taught in class with the practical application of it, and the students found it very enlightening.
How are you working to ensure accounting programmes can support aspiring accountants to succeed in a changing world?
Both the profession and the preferences of students are evolving. In the old days, the accounting profession required a lot manual work but now it involves more consultancy and cross-function services on top of audit and taxation. There is little information available to students on new or different aspects of accounting services like valuation, insolvency, restructuring, anti-money laundering and ESG consultancy. As such, accounting programmes are evolving to bridge the students’ learning needs and what is required by the accounting profession. For example, more courses on ESG are incorporated into the accounting programme and there is an elective course on contemporary accounting and finance issues for students to select. In addition to incorporating more aspects of accounting knowledge into the programme, I have made an effort to incorporate more practical elements in the accounting programme. The Masterclass Series is an example of this, as well as workshop sessions that are similar to the Institute’s QP workshops in the tutorial classes. This is inspired by the philosophy of new QP, which has an emphasis on practicality and experientiality for students.
Where do you see yourself in the next five to 10 years in your career?
I will continue to devote myself to accounting education and perhaps providing education and training from different aspects in order to help foster all-rounded future accountants. I also wish to learn more about the psychological aspects in accounting education such as the motivation for becoming a CPA. I find investigating human behaviour very interesting, and I think it provides value to many stakeholders like educators, professional bodies and accounting firms in formulating strategies for student in-take, members acquisition and talent retention.
What are the biggest lessons you have learnt so far from work experience or managers?
I am so thankful to have come across many brilliant supervisors in my career so far. For example, Simon Chung, who was the senior tax manager and my counsellor at EY, taught me the importance of details and to think from the clients’ perspective. Dr. Lynne Chow, the head of accounting at OUHK at the time I first joined the university, showed me the dedication it takes to enhance the learning experience of students. Kit Wong, Director, and Lusa Lam, Deputy Director, of E&T at the Institute, had demonstrated the importance of being impactful in presentations, and the significance of policy setting when running the QP.
How do you think the QP has helped you in your career so far?
The old QP had provided me the technical knowledge as well as the practical application for being qualified as a professional accountant. In particular, the experience of attending workshop was fruitful because of the involvement of team discussion and sharing from practitioners. As someone who was involved in the development of the new QP, I would say that it provides an even more comprehensive learning experience which is more closely related to the real life working environment.
