Welcome BPKP-STAR Program

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes participants of the Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan - State Accountability Revitalization (BPKP-STAR) Program from Indonesia who will be undergoing a one-week short course for Best Graduates.  These graduates are mainly government officers who undertook Masters program in leading Indonesian universities and have passed their program with flying colours.  Most of the participants have obtained their maximum CGPA of 4.0.   STAR Program is a program initiated by the Government of Indonesia through cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in order to improve the government accountability in Indonesia. The program also hopes to improve the competency of public finance officers and government's internal auditors.  Through this short course with ARI and UiTM, participants hope to enhance their competency in public finance management and internal audit.  The one-week program will involve lectures, professional seminars, postgraduate colloquium, sharing sessions, polygraph simulation experience and site visits to selected government agencies in Malaysia - Inland Revenue Board, Ministry of Finance, Petronas and Accountants General Office.  The participants will also be taken to visit Kuala Lumpur city centre and will have the experience to explore Kuala Lumpur Tower and Petronas Twin Tower.

Social Responsibility Contribution to the Homeless

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates our fellow Professor Dr Nafsiah Mohammed for doing a great social responsibility contribution to the needy.  Prof Dr Nafsiah who is also currently the caretaker of the Rumah Amal Cahaya Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (Ractar), Subang Jaya, together with her students from the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA and children from Ractar distributed foods to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.  The "Feed the Poor & Homeless Sessions" is essentially an informal program initiated by a group of random Malaysians from all walks of life who come together every once in a while to Feed The Poor & Homeless in the back alleys of our very own city, Kuala Lumpur.  The program initially started with a small group of friends who wanted to do something and start the ball rolling so that more people would start their own feed the homeless sessions. Their aim was for more people to learn how to do it by joining them the first time so they could organize their own sessions in the future so more and more people would be aware of what they could do to help the less fortunate in the city, and together, make a difference.  Congratulations and well done Prof Nafsiah and her team.

ARI-PBBM Training in Dubai, Jeddah, Madinah & Mecca

After a very successful training in 2014, the Malaysian Association of Statutory Bodies (Persatuan Badan-Badan Berkanun Malaysia or PBBM) invited the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) to co-organize another training program for its members to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.  The 2nd Training titled "Islamic Practices & Development  Training - IPDT- 2015" has attracted 25 participants from various statutory bodies in Malaysia.  Two ARI fellows , Associate Professors Dr Zuraidah and Dr Jamaliah have been appointed by PBBM to facilitate the two-week training program.  Included in the training programs, is among others, participation at an international conference in Dubai, visiting successful corporations in Saudi Arabia, interaction with successful Islamic Finance researchers and scholars, Sharing sessions and colloquiums by participants with government & research agencies as well as performing Umrah in Mecca. PBBM-ARI Training Collaboration has been very successful.  Since 2012, ARI-PBBM has successfully organized professional training programs and site visits to New Zealand (forest & water management, tourism and public sector organisations), UK (Oxford University, Cambridge University, local authorities), Amsterdam (environmental management) and Saudi Arabia (Islamic finance, Islamic management, Wakaf & Zakat management).  The focus of the training programs is through "hands-on" approaches where participants are exposed to real-life situations and they have the opportunities to participate in real-life solutions. IPDT 2015 runs from 23rd November to 7th December 2015.  Next year, another training program has been planned for Bangalore, India.  Participants will have the opportunity to visit IT Silicon Valley in Bangalore and learn about the traits of "out-sourcing" as a mushrooming industry in India.

NVivo Training at ARI

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks Dr Yuliansyah, from Universitas Lampong, Indonesia for accepting our invitation to provide research training to our research fellows and postgraduate students on the use of NVivo. Dr Yuliansyah is a qualified NVivo trainer and has conducted many NVivo training in Indonesia, Malaysia and in other universities in the Asian region.  NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package produced by QSR International. It has been designed for qualitative researchers working with very rich text-based and/or multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis on small or large volumes of data are required. NVivo is used predominantly by academic, government, health and commercial researchers across a diverse range of fields, including social sciences such as anthropology, psychology, communication, sociology, as well as fields such as forensics, tourism, criminology and marketing.

ARI Fellow at National Level Integrity Talk

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates Dr Nor Balkish Zakaria for being invited by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) as speaker and IIM's representative to give talk on Integrity to university and college students.

Recently Dr Balkish delivered a speech on integrity at the Politeknik Merlimau in Melaka to a cohort of newly registered students at the polytechnic.   Integrity is an important concept that must be embraced by the students.  Currently Dr Balkish is also a member of ARI-IIM collaborative research on Corporate Integrity at the Workplace as well as one of the experts in the development of the "Corporate Integrity Questionnaire for Malaysian Statutory Bodies".  Congratulations Dr Nor Balkish.

60 Years of CPA Australia

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates CPA Australia for its 60th Anniversary.  The Malaysian CPA Australia office in Kuala Lumpur organized a "short and sweet" Hi-Tea networking event for members and CPA Council members. CPA Australia has been providing a lot of support to ARI and Universiti Teknologi MARA by providing research grants, sponsoring a Research Centre in Public Sector Accounting, participating in organising professional programs at the university as well as acting as co-organiser of numerous international conferences.  The Hi-Tea ceremony provides a useful platform for members to mingle and network with one another.  Congratulations CPA Australia.

Highlighting Islamic Financial Criminology as a Developing Research Area

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates the Asia Pacific Conference on Business and Social Sciences 2015 for organising a successful conference recently.  The main objective of Asia Pacific Conference on Business and Social Sciences (APCBSS) 2015 which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was to promote and publish relevant and current ideas that are important for global academics in particular and the businesses, societies and economies at large. Its objective also includes the dissemination of knowledge and networking with relevant stakeholders in order to inform and motivate them for strategic thinking and actions. While APCBSS 2015 aims to serve as a platform for the researchers, educators and learners of undergraduate and graduate business and social sciences from all over the world the participants from Australia, New Zealand and greater Asia are expected to bolster the conference audience.  Themed "Towards Research Excellence in Business and Social Sciences" the conference was organised in Partnership with The Journal of Developing Areas (The JDA, USA) with the aim of uncovering new areas of research and publications.  Professor Dr Normah Omar, who is the Director of Accounting Research Institute was invited by the conference to deliver a keynote address on "Islamic Financial Criminology" .

ARI-CRMS Collaboration

Whilst in Bandung, members of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) have been invited by the Center of Risk Management Studies (CRMS) Indonesia for a collaborative meeting.  CRMS Indonesia won prestigious award in Global Risk Awards 2014 category 'Risk Management Service Provider of the Year' on 27 February 2014 in London.  The event was attended by around 500 participants from 19 countries.  In its mission statement, CRMS stipulates that it is committed to education, international partnerships and driving forward the risk management agenda. The company’s vision is to facilitate the acceleration of risk management practices in Indonesia through knowledge, advancement and sharing initiatives.  Representing ARI and UiTM for the meeting were Professor Dr Normah Omar, Associate Professor Dr Azmi Abdul Hamid, Dr Norazida Mohamed and Dr Nor Balkish Zakaria.  A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will be signed soon by both CRMS and UiTM to signify an international collaboration in providing training and certification in risk managment.  Our potential association with CRMS is made possible through personal introduction by Associate Professor Dr Azmi Abdul Hamid, Head of Industry Linkages of the Deputy Vice Chancellor office (Industry, Community, Alumni Network) of Universiti Teknologi MARA.  CRMS is the largest risk management training provider in Indonesia that has helped the development of risk management capabilities for practitioners and organizations in Indonesia.  

ARI's Expertise and Keynote Speakers

Whilst the Asian Academic Accounting Association conference is going on in Bandung, other fellows of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) are also busy delivering keynote addresses elsewhere.   Professor Dr Nafsiah, who is an expert in public sector accounting was invited to give a talk at the Asia- America -Africa- Australia conference, also in Bandung Indonesia.with the theme "Evaluating and Improving Good Public Governance".  

The conference which was hosted by the Pasundan University, has attracted many researchers, postgraduate students and government officers from various universities and government agencies.  Back in Malaysia, ARI's two research fellows, Associate Professors Dr Roshayani and Dr Faizah are key trainers for treasury officers from public universities in Malaysia.  In view of the newly introduced Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standard (MPERS), the duo have been tasked to provide awareness, through a three-day workshop to treasury officers from various public universities on this  new milestone for financial reporting of private entities in Malaysia.

Asian Academic Accounting Association Conference 2015

The 2015 yearly conference of the Asian Academic Accounting Association (AAAA or 4A)  took place in Bandung, Indonesia on 15-17 November 2015.  Hosted by Universitas Indonesia, the three-day event was well attended by almost 300 participants from twelve countries.  The 4A was launched in 1998 to serve as the potential professional organization for accounting academics in Asia and beyond.  It brings together colleagues from many countries to share their research as well as to discuss pedagogical and other issues of mutual interest. 4A mission is to  facilitate collaborations and programs to enhance accounting education and research.  Themed "Accounting Fraud, Corruption and Earnings Deception" the conference papers are accordingly grouped into various related panel sessions.  They are namely "Fraud and Deception",  "Financial Reporting Issues", "Corporate Governance Issues", "Accounting Education Issues", "Auditing Issues", "Earnings Management Issues", "Taxation Issues", "Capital Market Issues", "Accounting Information Issues", "Environmental Issues", "Government Accounting Issues" and "Other Contemporary & Disclosure Issues".  Professor Dr Normah Omar, Director of the Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA has been invited to deliver a keynote sppech entitled "Accounting Fraud, Corruption and Earnings Deception".

 

National Integrity Convention

Several researchers from the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) attended the one-day National Integrity Convention held at the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) today. "Corporate Integrity and Governance" is one of the four important research clusters carried out by ARI researchers for its HICoE research niche in Islamic Financial Criminology.  With the theme "Integrity: Current Challenges", the event's opening ceremony was graced by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan.  The annual convention is indeed an important platform for stakeholders to both ask questions and to find answers and solutions to some of the issues and challenges faced by organisations in promoting integrity at workplaces and in inculcating civil society. The National Integrity Convention 2015 highlights six key challenges:  (i) Public Service Delivery System, (ii) The Role of the Integrity and Governance Committee (PRECISION), (iii) Compliance With Rules and Regulations, (iv) Family Relations, (v) Social Media and (vi)  Public Administration.

Courtesy Visit to Agro Bank

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks Agro Bank, particularly its three officers, Ms Ainul (Head, Corporate Communication); Mr Ahmad Shahril (Chief Transformation Officer) and Mr Zahid (Chief Operation Officer) for inviting ARI researchers today to discuss possible inter-institution collaboration.  Agrobank, formerly known as Bank Pertanian Malaysia, is an institution which provides holistic financial services and banking facilities such as savings activities, banking services, loan facilities, insurance coverage and advisory services. It is a Government-linked-Company (GLC) under the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MFI). Focusing on agriculture, the bank’s financing of the agricultural sector is driven by a policy set forth by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries.  Recently in Bahrain, the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) awarded agriculture-centred Malaysian-based Agrobank the 'Upcoming Islamic Bank 2015' accolade for upholding shariah-compliant banking and elevating Malaysia in its efforts to be established as a global Islamic financial hub. During the courtesy visit today, members of the meeting deliberated on some potential activities that can be carried out: Economic Transformation Programs for agricultural-based community (for example at Felda and Felcra settlement); Institution-based Executive MBA and Masterclass training programs for Agro Bank executives and officers.

Corporate Integrity Activity of UDA Holding

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks UDA Holding for making the initiative to undergo the Corporate Integrity Assessment  - a collaboration between the Malaysian Institute of Integrity and ARI.  The assessment, using the Corporate Integrity Assessment Questionnaire (CIAQ) instrument was carried out early this year.  A preliminary result has been presented to UDA's Corporate Integrity Department in September.  Today, a formal presentation is made to the top management of UDA by ARI research team.  UDA should be commended for taking a proactive measure to establish a Corporate Integrity Department for the company. Its integrity infrastructure has included the appointment of an Integrity Officer, the implementation of a "No Gift" policy and a Whistleblowing policy for the company.  Also present at the event was UDA's Group Managing Director,  Datuk Ahmad Abu Bakar.