Provisional Member Doesn T Make You Certified Accountant Wee Tells Guan Eng

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MCA president Wee Ka Siong says the Malaysian Institute of Accountants also does not list Lim Guan Eng as being a member.PETALING JAYA: MCA has dismissed a certificate furnished by DAP to prove Lim Guan Eng’s academic credentials, saying it merely states that the finance minister was admitted as a provisional member
Earlier today, Lim’s political secretary, Tony Pua, said Lim received his certificate of membership to the Australian Society of Accountants three months after passing his exams, on Feb 21, 1984
But MCA president Wee Ka Siong explained that a provisional membership is one of the first steps to take to qualify as an accountant and a full membership in the Australian Society of Accountants
Therefore, a provisional membership, he argued, is far from being a fully certified chartered accountant or even an accountant
“You cannot call yourself using either designation,” the Ayer Hitam MP said in a Facebook post
Wee pointed out that Lim had at a business forum in March 2012 admitted to being a failed accountant and had spent less than a week in a firm in Malaysia before being sacked
Since then, he added, there has been no evidence that he has ever worked in any other accounting firm or of him ever having taken the compulsory modules or professional exams needed to qualify as a certified accountant or chartered accountant
The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Wee said, also did not list the DAP secretary-general as being a member
“In Malaysia, you cannot misrepresent yourself as an accountant unless you are a member of MIA.”Wee recently questioned Lim’s qualifications, noting that the latter’s website stated that he became a professional accountant in 1983
But he said the Monash University website showed that Lim only obtained his Bachelor of Economics in 1984
Pua explained that Lim had completed and passed all the exams necessary to obtain his degree and qualifications to be an accountant by the end of 1983
He said the Monash University website showed Lim obtained his degree in 1984 because the Australian academic calendar year ends in November, before the summer break
Lim has since threatened legal action against pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) media outlets which continue to question his education credentials. -FMT

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