UiTM and TARC students top Deloitte Tax Challenge 2013
Petaling Jaya, 11 November 2013 – After a month of poring through the Malaysian tax system, gruelling case presentations and heated debates, the students from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARC) emerged as the champions of Deloitte Tax Challenge 2013 team and individual categories, respectively. The sixth season of the annual competition culminated in last Friday’s grand finale and gala event, which saw winners of the team and individual category bag RM8,000 and RM3,000 respectively along with a full-time position offer upon graduation with Deloitte, the world’s leading professional services network.
UITM’s Adib Ahmad Zabidi of Team Pirate Tax is elated that his team managed to outdo 114 teams to win this year’s Deloitte Tax Challenge, “This is a wonderful surprise for us and we would like to thank our lecturers for giving us the support and the knowledge required to ace the challenge.”
When asked what he and his team took away from the challenge, the ACCA student said, “In addition to honing our presentation skills, the Deloitte Tax Challenge really taught us the importance of teamwork. The challenge saw us lean on each other’s best abilities to wow the panel of judges.
Meanwhile, in the individual category, the charismatic Joshua Chai from TAR University College rose above 1,500 contenders to clinch the championship. The panel of judges comprising Tan Theng Hooi, Country Managing Partner and Sim Kwang Gek, M&A Tax Leader of Deloitte Malaysia as well as BFM’s Khoo Hsien Chun were impressed with the final year Business Management student’s broad knowledge of the tax system and cohesive delivery.
“I am grateful, satisfied and honoured to win this prestigious challenge. It has pushed me to improve myself further as I am a firm believer of not resting on my laurels,” enthused Joshua.
Yee Wing Peng, Country Tax Leader of Deloitte Malaysia beamed when he spoke of this year’s competition, “I am proud to note that the Deloitte Tax Challenge has benefitted 11,000 students since we started the programme in 2008. This year, we drew close to 2,000 students from 24 universities across Malaysia. As a Tier 1 firm in international tax practices, it is part of our commitment to develop and nurture talents within and without our firm to further strengthen our tax practice,”
He added, “Deloitte hopes to continuously unearth talents within the student community. Through this initiative alone, we have seen many participants pursuing the tax profession upon graduation, and Deloitte Malaysia is proud to be among their employer of choice.”
The Deloitte Tax Challenge is an annual competition organised for undergraduates to test their knowledge in taxation and to improve their soft skills especially in writing, speaking and presentation. It aims to introduce tax as an exciting and rewarding career option.
The Deloitte Tax Challenge was made possible with the support of co-sponsor and presentation trainer, ACCA Malaysia, co-trainer BFM 89.9 and UiTM which incidentally was the venue sponsor.
If you are interested in learning more about the Deloitte Tax Challenge or would like to see a full list of the 2013 competition winners and sponsors, please visit www.deloittechallenge.com.
