YED x SCAA seminar and mentor sharing session

Young Entrepreneurs and Professional Services: A look at Career Development and CEPA

 

How to Follow Your Own Career Path

 

    On Jan. 31, YED invited the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors (SCAA) to give an inspiring sharing session on young entrepreneurs and professional services in HKU Main Campus.Eight distinguished guests, Mr. Donald Chau, Ms. Stella Choy, Mr. Tony Kam, Mr. Ronnie Choi, Mr. Yip Ka Ki, Mr. Michael Pang, Mr. Edmund Wong, and Mr. Andrew Chen, were presented to share their career experience with students. Not only did the seminar provide students with a lot of information on accounting, it also offered great suggestions on career planning.

 

 

    After an introduction given by Mr. Ricky Lam (Chair of PR and Publication, Institute of Financial Accountant - HK), the history, background and objectives of SCAA were introduced to students. Speakers gave practical suggestions on how to become a practical accountant in Hong Kong. Then speaker showed a sample Chinese ledger before 1960 and a picture of old Chinese character for numbers. While the audiences were interested at those ancient pictures, they were also impressed by the history of accounting and Hong Kong’s special role as the gate of east and west.

 

    Then the mentor sharing came, where mentors in turn talked about their working experience. First speaker Donald talked about his career in the background of the economy in Hong Kong. After graduation, he joined in a local firm. Due to Hong Kong’s growing economy, his position and salary rose. However with financial crisis and SARS, he became unemployed. He had a hard time until he opened own firm in 2005. He emphasized four basic rules. Accumulate more capital, do not speculate, always do your homework, cut loss. Then the second speaker Tony talked about hispath to a successful accountant. Although he did not have higher education and had a low-paid job, it took him 7 years to become an accountant through hardworking. After finishing his MBA in Australia, he now owns an accounting firm. As a boss, he needs to take care of everything, from buying furniture to hiring employees. He mentioned in the last the importance of self-fulfilling prophecy and encouraged students to think positively and work hard.

 

 

    After that, Ronnie mentioned it was important to become your own CEO, because you can learn more and earn more by starting your own business. Audiences were amazed at his bravery when he founded his own company 15 years ago. Other young accountants, Mr. Yip Ka Ki, Edmund and Andrew also shared their successful stories with students.

 

 

    There was a discussion session between YED members and guest speakers. An in-depth discussion was given on the influence of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) on accounting. While constraints and limitations are introduced, prospects and opportunities also come along. With this background, speakers gave insightful suggestions on how students should start their business.

 

 

    The seminar offered a great opportunity for young people to have face-to-face communications with successful seniors and learn from their experience. As for how to follow your own career path, Mr. Ricky Lam quoted one should follow the path step by step and have his feet firmly stood on the ground.

 

 

 

Reported by   

Helen Xie   

Edited by   

Kelly & Helen   

YED-Academics and Publication