Malaysia

Two Malaysian students awarded joint First Place by ICAEW, a world leading professional accountancy body, bringing the number of World Prizes won in 2010 to three, and a total of eight prizes won by local students since 2004.

Kwong Sze Hui (20), and Teh Qian Yuen (20) attained the highest scores in the Financial Accounting paper, sharing the Joint First Place and the Spicer and Pegler prize with fellow BDO colleague Sam Moore of Huddersfield, UK. They scored the highest marks in the category, ahead of almost 900 students accross the world, and 64 in Malaysia. Sponsored by BDO, the world's fifth largest accountancy and advisory services network, these two students are part of a global cohort of top accounting students studying for the world leading ACA qualification in Malaysia with Sunway-TES, a world leading professional accounting course provider.

Sze Hui and Qian Yuen join An Li Fong who attained the highest score in the Audit and Assurance exam in June last year.

The ICAEW Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification is held by over 136,000 members accross more than 160 countries. Gaining the ACA means that a candidtate has demonstrated the highest technical and ethical standards, and is qualified to provide expert financial knowledge and guidance. The winning papers were from the Professional Stage of the examination, which ensures students have a firm understanding of accounting concepts and principles, ethics and skills. The Spicer & Pegler Prize has been awarded since 1981 to students with the highest scores on the Accounting paper, commemorating an accountancy firm established in 1902 that worked to improve the standards of tuition and training in the profession.

"We are elated and proud of this outstanding achievement by Sze Hui and Qian Yuen," said Dato' Gan Ah Tee, Managing Partner, BDO Malaysia. "They have demonstrated their commitment to excellence and this augurs well with BDO's continued strategy to support human resources development. Our intentions to provide opportunities for young, deserving Malaysian students to becoming global professionals through the BDO sponsorship programme continues to be well on its way. With these prizes, BDO sponsored the ACA students who are also recipients of Order of Merits, have risen to a total of three in three years".

Mark Billington FCA, Regional Director of ICAEW South East Asia said, "Training the ACA qualification is demanding and the examinations are rigorous, ensuring that only the best candidates are admitted into the ICAEW global membership. The two prize winners and the consistently high grade of local candidates demonstrate the outstanding calibre of Malaysian students".

"We will continue with our tradition as an institution of educational excellence and strive to produce award winning graduates," said Mr. Teo Ee Sing, Executive Director, Sunway-TES." Achieving a high level of academic excellence is hard work, but the upbeat side is that we have a reason to celebrate".