Monday, May 7, 2012


The KPMG Talk: A day of intrigue                                                                       
  T
he rainy clouds gathered and the bellowing grey clouds begun to gather. The cold breeze drifted in mid-air. The hustle and bustle continued at Sunway College, this had to be past lunch hour. There was an aura of optimism amongst the Sunway CPA Student Charter because they were expecting a special guest. This was none other than Ms Anita Menon. Her decorated curriculum vitae boasting an extensive background in conventional banking, commodities and financial strategy not forgetting she is the current Executive director of Financial Risk Management Services.

The crowd gathered slowly in the auditorium. At 3.30 P.M, I shot a glance at the watch and the auditorium was not even full. One of the students who made the welcoming speech was already on stage. Fiona looked calm and composed. Her deamour was that of a confident individual. Her introduction was lively and her energy seemed to rub-off the audience with smiles on their faces.
Finally, a round of applause was given to the Executive Director of Financial Risk Management. Her bright smile lit up the room. Most boys appeared to be enthusiastic compared to the girls. This was probably because of her stunning outfit. The talk begun off with a general background of the general economic crisis. The students sitting next to me where at the edge of their seats. For a moment, I thought they were going to jump off. The atmosphere in the room was jubilant; it was as if we were at a musical concert. However, things changed drastically as she suddenly started to drift onto the subject of financial instruments.

Furthermore, confusion descended upon the first year students. This is because they were not familiar with the financial jargon. The high energy of optimism seemed to vanish. They started to text their friends and Facebook. Later on, scores of people begun chatting.
Within a matter of short time, she was summing up her talk. She was done. I could almost see a sense of relief amongst the students. It was time for questions. The questions posed to her simply, she breezed through them.

Lastly, it was time for Sunway CPA Student Charter to hand over a token of appreciation to Ms Anita Menon. The usual protocol was observed of shaking hands. After that it was time for taking pictures.

Furthermore, the time for refreshments had arrived. The deafening silence was replaced with a sea of noise. Most students were chatting with each other, and very few were chatting with our speaker.

The KPMG talk was an insightful talk for most students. At the end of the day, we all learned something new. It might have been little or more than others. The fact is none of walked out the auditorium the same.
                                                                                                      Written by: Shumina
                                                                                                      Edited by: Yvonne Ching

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