Workshop helps business students enhance knowledge of financial planning

Miri – 17 August 2011 – The CPA Australia Student Charter of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), in collaboration with CPA Australia, recently organised a Financial Workshop with the theme Your Money & Your Brain.

The workshop, held in the university’s Harry Perkins Lecture Theatre, was attended by over 200 business students from Curtin Sarawak, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus and Riam Institute of Technology, Miri.

According to organising chairperson Lim Nyet Yee, a final-year Accounting & Finance student, the workshop was designed to enhance the students’ knowledge of financial planning as well as provide an enriching learning experience beyond the classroom.

In her opening remarks during the opening ceremony, Lim urged the participants to grab the opportunity to learn as much as possible from the workshop’s main speaker and facilitator, Jonathan Quek, who is Head of R&D and founder of alternative investment experts True North Asia Sdn. Bhd.

Meanwhile, Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Alistair Inglis lauded the Curtin Sarawak CPA Australia Student Charter for organising the workshop with CPA Australia, the largest and most prominent accounting body in Australia which is also widely recognised throughout the world. He added that students stand to benefit greatly from such workshops and that he looked forward to seeing more events by the student charter in the near future.

The student charter’s advisor, accounting lecturer Chan Kwok Mow, highlighted the importance and timeliness of the event, particularly in light of the emerging turbulence in the global stock market. He said people need to learn how to control the flow of their money, apart from other matters such as financial ethics and governance.

Also present was Edwin Wong, Relationship Manager, Education Division, representing Adam Suess, CPA Australia’s Regional Manager, Education – International Division.

The workshop consisted of three sessions conducted by Quek and Candice Lee, Managing Director of True North Asia Sdn. Bhd.

In the first session, the students played a game designed to expose them to the basics of investment, and in the second, they took a personality test to help them discover what Lee termed their ‘wealth elements’.

In the final session, Quek gave a talk on understanding the psychology of money, how to react emotionally to money, how money affects an individual’s financial success, and whether one should change his or her spending attitudes or habits. According to him, there is nothing in the world today that has not been done by someone, and thus, he urged the students to learn from the success stories of others when mapping out their own steps.

Quek is an authority on wealth creation and financial management and a leading financial speaker, trainer, author and alternative investment practitioner. He happens to be Asia’s youngest wealth coach and is the author of the book Why Gold? Why Silver? Why Now?

As a certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), his training and financial advisory sessions are known for their dynamism, energy, originality and positive provocation towards personal transformation; coupled with measurable roadmaps and strategies to implement successful change.

The Curtin Sarawak CPA Australia Student Charter is an independent, self-regulated student organisation under the auspices of the Curtin Sarawak School of Business’ Department of Accounting and Business Information Systems. Its mission and objectives include developing the learning curve of students, providing a platform for networking with CPA Australia and actively engaging with industry. It receives support from CPA Australia in the organising of events to enhance its members’ knowledge and skills for future employment.

For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website at www.curtin.edu.my, call +60 85 443 939, or e-mail enquiries@curtin.edu.my.

Group photo following the opening ceremony

The main speaker, wealth coach Jonathan Quek

True North Asia Managing Director Candice Lee