Director ARI HICoE

MOU Signing Ceremony

2012-01-10T13:21:00.003+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) and Universiti Teknologi MARA will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE),India. IPE, like ARI is a national research centre of excellence, focussing specifically on the development public enterprises. The Institute is a research centre within the University of Osmania in Hydrabad. Prof Mishra, who is IPE Director visited ARI in 2011 and ARI researchers participated in an international conference in Hydrabad last December. For the MOU ceremony, the Vice Chancellor, Dato' Prof Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar himself will be signing on behalf of the university. ARI-IPE will be co-organizing a Board Training Program in New Delhi on 9-10 February 2012, during which the MOU will be signed.

Congratulations Khairul Anuar and Wan Adibah

2011-11-30T08:55:00.002+08:00

All members of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulate our collegues Dr Khairul Anuar and Dr Wan Adibah who have recently successfully completed their PhD program in New Zealand. Khairul Anuar and Wan Adibah were respectively named the best student in their cohorts when they were undertaking their Master in Accountancy program at Universiti Teknologi MARA. Congratulations and well done...

Investigative Techniques & Moot Court

2011-11-22T12:45:00.000+08:00

One of the courses offered for the Master in Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology program is Investigative Techniques. The course covers different techniques used by financial fraud investigators or forensic accountants. Basically students would select actual cases involving CBT, corruption, money politics, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorism financing, illegal deposit taking etc and "re-constitute" an investigation framework. The focus is to identify specific legal violation, evidence gathering, data collection, data analysis and report writing. The students would then present their cases in a moot court setting where judges, witnesses and lawyers may be present. Today, in an effort to further improve the content of the curriculum, we invited Tuan Awang from the AG Chambers to provide practical requirements so that students understand basic protocols of court proceedings.

New Country Participants

2011-11-19T22:55:00.002+08:00

The three-day APMAA Conference 2011 saw new country participation: Nigeria (Prof Samuel Gbadebo, University of Abuja), United Arab Emirates - UAE(Prof Sherine Farouk, University of Dubai), Iran, Thailand (Prof Supapon, University of Chulalongkorn) Singapore (Prof Nam, Singapore Management University) and Yemen. Thailand and Singapore were part of APMAA founding members but have not participated in the last four conferences.

Congratulations Eley Suzana and and Noor Sufiawati

2011-11-18T23:40:00.000+08:00

Two of our PhD students: Ms Eley Suzana and Ms Noor Sufiawati jointly won the "Best paper" award for the recent PhD colloquium held in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Ms Eley Suzana had also won the "Best Presenter" award. The results were announced during the APMAA Dinner held tonite at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Glenmarie. Congratulations to both of you....

PhD Research in Management Accounting

2011-11-16T21:48:00.000+08:00

Ten PhD students presented selected portion of their research projects today in a one day PhD Colloquium held at the Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam campus. For the colloquium, three discussants have been assigned to critically review the students' written works.
In a way, the students were able to get a fair comment from the reviewers as the papers have been submitted to them much earlier. Three of my own students: Eley Suzana (Title: Supply Chain Management from the Perspective of Management Accounting), Ibrahim Morshidi (Export Driven SME Business Performance and Their Contingent Fit with Owner's Leadership Characteristics) and Hussein (Target Costing Implementation Decisions and Organizational Capabilities). The PhD colloquium is a great platform for students to discuss their phd projects. They can discuss findings from literature review, research framework, theoretical underpinnings, industry analysis, research design, data analysis or research findings. For each of these sections, they can write journal papers which can ultimately add values to their own final theses....

Thanks Councilor Ravi

2011-11-10T21:14:00.001+08:00

Since today was our last council meeting for 2011, the CPA Australia (Malaysia Division)
councilors and management organised a farewell do for Mr Ravi Navaratnam who finishes his term at the end on this year. Ravi has been a Councilor for the past seven years and according to him, "he has enjoyed every minute of it". Thanks to you sir. I am sure he will continue to share and contribute his ideas to CPA Australia and the accounting profession...

AKNC 2011

2011-11-01T23:06:00.000+08:00

I wish to congratulate all nine teams who made their presentations at the Final Round of the Annual Vice Chancellor Quality Award (AKNC 2011). The teams who represented the faculty category were namely the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Faculty of Applied Sciences. Three units, namely Students Affairs, Infotech and the PTAR library represented the Division category. Meanwhile, three UiTM campuses from Perak, Pahang and Sarawak represented the State Campus category.
Each team had to present their best three strengths. Interestingly, there were a lot of innovations being showcased: Energy-efficient automobile, electronic databases, data management system, e-operation. In a nutshell, all teams have made very interesting and impressive presentations. Well done.

Benford's Law

2011-10-31T00:11:00.001+08:00

BENFORD'S LAW is a statistical-based analytical application that can be used to detect irregularities. It provides a data analysis method that can help alert forensic accountants to possible errors, potential fraud, manipulative biases, costly processing inefficiencies or other irregularities. Putting it to work, here are some possible practical applications for Benford's law and digital analysis:
(i) Accounts payable data.
(ii) Estimations in the general ledger.
(iii) The relative size of inventory unit prices among locations.
(iv) Duplicate payments.
(v) Computer system conversion (old to new system; accounts receivable files).
(vi) Processing inefficiencies due to high quantity/low value transactions.
(vii) New combinations of selling prices.
(viii)Customer refunds

Thanks Mr Ken

2011-10-27T00:28:00.002+08:00

I wish to thank Mr Ken Pushpanathan, a senior partner in one of top accounting firms in Malaysia for inviting me to his Deepavali do recently. Mr Ken is a regular guest speaker to my Money Laundering and Financial Criminology Master in Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology class. Very often, he would share his experiences as an auditor and how he discovers financial statement fraud during his audit jobs. His Deepavali do was a splendid 1Malaysia concept. Thanks again Ken and his wife Uma for your great hospitality...

AG Audit Report 2010

2011-10-24T18:56:00.000+08:00

The Auditor General Report 2010 contains some very interesting findings. The following excerpts were taken from The Sun daily newspaper on the summary of the audit report:
"...The audit showed that last year, 17 ministries were ranked 'very good' in this category compared to just 10 in 2009, while government departments also showed encouraging progress, with 13 departments ranked 'very good' compared to only four the previous year. However, Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said the performance could be improved further if the head of departments or supervisors do not only take corrective action but also preventive measures to overcome weaknesses".
Sample financial shenanigans have also been highlighted by the AG Report 2010:
(1) Giatmara, a subsidary of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), bought equipment for its skills training programmes at grossly inflated prices;
(2) Nine ministries were found to have overspent RM3.73 billion of its operational allocation;
(3) 11 government-linked companies (GLCs) only paid dividends to the government in certain years despite making profits for three consecutive years;
(4) Deals worth millions of ringgit made by Tourism Promotion Board via direct negotiation, without approval of the Finance Ministry;
(5) More than half of the 143 Kemas kindergartens in Johor, Kelantan, Kedah and Sabah do not adhere to the menu prepared by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry;
(6) More than 130 of about 1000 health ministry staff quarters have been abandoned for up to 12 years;
(7) RM2.57 million pension paid out to about 2,000 dead pensioners.

Congratulations Two PhD Graduates

2011-10-23T10:13:00.002+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) congratulates two of our recent PhD graduates: (1) Dr Rose Shamsiah Binti Samsuddin "The Oversight Function of the Public Account Committee in Reporting the Audited Statements of the State Government". The PhD project was supervised by Associate Professor Dr Nafsiah Mohamed; (2) Dr Zaleha Binti Othman "Integration of Ethics in Malaysian Corporate Governance Practices". The project was jointly supervised by Prof Dr Rashidah Abdul rahman and Prof Alan Lovell. Congratulations all...

New PhD Students at ARI

2011-10-22T19:14:00.001+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) and I wish to welcome new post graduate students who have just registered with us this semester. Post graduate research programs in Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC) are offered jointly by both ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Effectively, research programs in IFC are divided into two main components namely (i) Islamic Accounting & Muamalat and (ii)Financial Criminology. Topics of interest in Islamic Accounting & Muamalat include Shariah Auditing, Islamic Financial Reporting, Zakat Investment, Islamic Unit Trust, Islamic Microfinancing etc. Meanwhile for financial criminology, topics of interest include Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Terrorism Financing in financial Institution, Cost Effectiveness of AML initiatives, AML/CFT in charity and non profit organizations and STR in money changing businesses. Financial assistance in the forms or research assistantship or graduate research assistantship are available at ARI.

Industry Lecture Series on AML/CFT

2011-10-16T18:19:00.005+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) and I wish to thank Mr Nor Khizam Sulaiman for accepting our invitation for him to give an industry lecture to our post graduate students. Mr Nor Khizam is currently Vice President/Head, Prudential and Governance Supervision at RHB Investment Bank. His responsibility includes performing compliance and supervisory function for capital markets and corporate regulatory requirement for investment banking business and operations. He is also the appointed Compliance Officer of AML/CFT for regulatory monitoring and reporting to regulatory bodies. In his lecture, Mr Nor Khizam shares his experiences in dealing and handing AML/CFT cases. We were told that in reality, the three stages of ML involving "placement", "layering" and "integration" are more complex as they include multiple transactions and multiple ML "players". In addition to the AML/CFT system available in financial institutions, "people skills" and "Ingenuity" are "must have" added characteristics of an effective AML/CFT officers.

Applied Research Presentations

2011-10-15T10:50:00.002+08:00

For the September Semester 2011, twelve students registered for the Applied Research Course. The applied research projects mainly focus on financial criminology cases. With specific research issue or research problem at hand, our post graduate students conduct the applied research projects and find solutions to the problems. Some of cases explored this semester include topics such as "governance of money changers in mitigating money laundering and terrorism financing", "effectiveness of the whistle-blowing programs of a PLC", "Cost Effectiveness of AML/CFT Program in Financial Institutions", "Risk Management Analysis of AML/CFT Programs", "Evaluation of the Internal Audit Function in Preventing ML/TF" and "Fraud Risk Indicators for Tax Exasion". Throughout the semester, students present their progress during four scheduled meetings with me, who act as the supervisor for the projects. Today, the students presented their research instruments and they are preparing themselves for their field work and data collection. I foresee some very interesting findings from the research projects this semester....

Thank You and Good Bye

2011-10-15T06:44:00.001+08:00

On behalf of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI), I wish to thank ARI's couple researcher Dr Rashid Ameer and Dr Radiah Othman who will be moving to New Zealand in November 2011. As research fellows at ARI, they have contributed significantly driving research and publications in the area of Islamic Financial Criminology. Dr Rashid was spearheading ARI's publication through the "C-Cure Publication" initiative. Meanwhile, Dr Radiah was head of ARI's "C-Cure PhD" initiative. Moving on, we hope to foster more international collaborations with universities and research centres in New Zealand through both of them...

Industry Lecture on Enforcement of AML/CFT

2011-10-02T10:27:00.000+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks Inspector Mohd Nor Firdaus, Investigating Officer (IO)from the AMLA unit of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) for delivering an industry lecture series to our Master in Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology students. As an investigation officer, Mohd Nor shared his personal experiences in investigating money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF)cases. It was highlighted that one of the most challenging tasks in conducting ML/TF cases is the gathering of relevant evidences, which in most cases have to be obtained from multiple sources. RMP is enhancing its IO competency through training programs in forensic accounting and financial criminology by collaborating with professional agencies, research entities, regulatory bodies, reporting entities and universities. In fact ARI is one of those entities that have collaborated with RMP in developing training modules in Financial Criminology... from

Money Laundering in NPOs

2011-09-25T11:17:00.003+08:00

Today, the master students from the "Money Laundering and Financial Criminology" class presented their cases on money laundering which had involved non-profit organizations. A total of ten local and global cases were presented by the students. For each case, the students need to highlight and explain the three stages of money laundering: placement, layering and integration. Theoretically, the identification seems very straight forward. However, in actual money laundering cases the stages may not be observable, hence making investigation and data collection a challenging process.
Students are also required to assess the internal control system of the organisations involved in each money laundering case and to gauge the pepetrators's personality with suitable fraud theory. All in all, as a facilitator for the course, I am very happy with the students presentations. They have shown maturity and have used suitable analytical tools to assess and evaluate their cases.
Among the NPO cases selected include Baptist Foundation of Arizona, Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, United Charity in Australia and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Congratulations all...

Intellectual Discourse

2011-07-25T23:24:00.004+08:00

It was such an honour for Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) when the Regent of Perak, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Raja Dr Nazrin Shah Ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibuddib Shah agreed to deliver a royal speech titled The Role of the Malay Rulers in Nuturing National Integration". The intellectual discourse was organized by one of the university's Centres of Excellence - IMPAK. The event which was held at the Dewan Agong Tuanku Canselor (DATC) was attended by 5,000 participants, comprising students and staff of the University.

ARI Training Programs

2011-06-19T12:58:00.003+08:00

One of the main functions of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI)is to provide training programs and consultancy services in the following areas of expertise:
1) Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology, 2) Financial Reporting, 3) Financial Statement Analysis, 4) Public Sector Accounting, 5) Accrual Accounting, 6) Accounting Information System, 7) Tax Planning, 8) Corporate & Enterprise Governance, 9) Islamic Accounting & Finance, 10) Shariah Auditing and 11) Intellectual Capital & Knowledge Management. Currently, ARI's operations are supported by researchers and professional experts from eight different research centres. The eight research centres are namely Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe), Islamic Accounting & Muamalat Research Centre (IAMRC), Corporate Governance Research Centre (CGRC), Financial Reporting and Taxation Research Centre (FRRC), Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC), Asia-Pacific Centre of Sustainability (APCeS), Government-Linked Companies Research Centre (GLCRC) and Public Sector Accounting Research Centre (PSARC). Those interested with ARI training programs may contact ARI office at tel no: 603 5544 4925.

Thank You to the New Accountant General

2011-06-13T23:00:00.005+08:00

I wish to thank and congratulate the new Accountant General of Malaysia, Datuk Wan Selamah Binti Wan Sulaiman for sharing her thoughts and experiences on the usefulness and relevance of forensic accounting in the government sector.
Her paper which was categorised under the track of "Accountability, Legal Framework and Islamic Perspective" made an interesting discussion point among the participants. One of initiatives to be undertaken by the Accountant General Office is to increase the number of forensic accounting courses for accountants.

Three Best Papers at ICFC 2011

2011-06-10T22:40:00.000+08:00

The International Conference on Financial Criminology (ICFC 2011) was successfully organized and it ended this evening with some very encouraging words from participants. The program ended with the announcement of three prize winners for the "Best Paper" category. Dr Siti Khadijah Ab Manan and Mr Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh won the third prize for their paper "IWE Practices Among Employees of Banking Institutions in Malaysia: Preliminary Findings". In second placing was Ms Ezdiani Ilyana Mohd Dom with her paper titled "Factors Influencing Service Tax Evasion". The Best Paper award went to the article titled "Governance of Charity Organizations as Fraud Preventive Mechanism: Lesson From Singapore" by Dr Radiah Othman, Prof Normah Omar, Prof Rashidah Abd Rahman and Dr Norli Ali. Prof Rashidah made a very impressive presentation of the winning paper. Congratulations...

Bundle of Joy

2011-05-29T13:20:00.001+08:00

I wish to congratulate two of ARI members - Associate Professor Dr Norzaidi Daud and his wife Dr Intan Salwani (both are ARI fellows)with the recent "arrival" of their beautiful son Mohamad Darwish. ARI members share their happiness and wish them well and our continuous prayer that your family is blessed with love and happiness. Perhaps baby Darwish's first word will be "ISI". Dr Norzaidi and Dr Intan have been among ARI's most active researchers and they have been publishing a lot of papers in ISI & SCOPUS Journals. Congratulations...

So You Want to Do Your PhD?

2011-05-26T09:32:00.005+08:00

Congratulations all aspiring PhD scholars who attended my talk today on Writing PhD Research Proposal. Some seventy participants who attended the social-science group have been awarded the scholarship by their sponsors.
Participants came from diversed backgrounds ranging from music, arts and design, business management, accountancy and law. I was asked by the Institute of Leadership, Quality and Management (ILQaM) to share the "do's and do'nts" of a PhD proposal. Good luck everyone . PhD is like a marathon, it is not about who finishes the race first, rather it is about whether you finish the race at all?...

Practioners are From Mars and Academics are from Venus?

2011-05-05T09:37:00.004+08:00

I read with much interest an article that appeared in a recent issue of e-magezine On Target of The Institute of Certified Management Accountants. Titled "Practitioners are from Mars and Academics are from Venus?", the article by Dr Basil Tucker from the University of South Australia discusses why, as far as research findings are concerned, there remains a wide "Research-Practice Gap". Whilst academic research may have great contribution to the real world, researchers failed to transmit their research findings effectively to the practitioners. Amongst the reasons stipulated by the article include, where academics are being: "...elitist and pretentious use of their own jargon; discussing convoluted theory; using complex statistical techniques; being excessively concerned to demonstrate familiarity with the literature and including numerous bracketed references in the text". Some food for thought... are academics and practitioners speak different languages?

ARI Tax Kiosk - A CSR Project

2011-04-28T14:50:00.002+08:00

Every year the Accounting Research Institute organizes free consultancy service to the university.
Fondly known as ARI Tax Kiosk, researchers from the Taxation Special Interest Group get together to offer their advices. This year, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) sends its officers to facilitate. Today is the second day of a two-day event. Though the deadline for income tax submission is just around the corner, we receive a lot of guests who happily participated in our event. Thanks all for your continuous support

Dr Philip Sinnadurai

2011-04-22T07:52:00.001+08:00

ARI welcomes Dr Philip Sinnadurai, a lecturer from the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Australia, who is on a two-week academic visit at the Faculty of Accountancy and Accounting Research Institute (ARI). Dr Philip works closely with several academic members of the faculty and ARI. One of the main objectives of his visit is to complete an ongoing research project, which he collaborated with Associate Prof Dr Norashikin Ismail (ARI Associate member). Whilst here, Dr Philip help facilitates several young researchers and graduate students with their data analysis. As a director of ARI, my greatest appreciation goes to you Dr Philip Sinnadurai.

MyRA Meeting

2011-04-21T13:48:00.000+08:00

As a Director of ARI, I have been appointed as one of the panel members to continuously evaluate MyRA, the instrument used to evaluate the research capabilities of public and private universities in Malaysia. Premised on eight dimensions, MyRA is used by universities to self-assess their own research strength. As one of the panel members appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education, the committee recently met to evaluate comments, feedback and suggestions made by universities and researchers. The panels comprised of both professors who were (i) part of the original committee formed when the research university initiativees were launched in 2006 and (ii) newly appointed members who are knowledable and familiar with the MyRA instrument

Young Researcher Scheme Program at ARI

2011-04-20T08:24:00.000+08:00

Young researchers under the Young Researcher Scheme (YRS) will commence their graduate program at ARI in the forthcoming semester. The YRS program is especially created by the university to support its research agenda for selected centres of excellence in UiTM. As a HICoE, ARI has been allocated five YRS positions (Thank You) in the areas of Islamic Accounting & Muamalat and Financial Criminology. The candidates will be pursuing their graduate research programs (Master/PhD) at the Accounting Research Institute

Research in AML/CFT

2011-04-16T10:11:00.000+08:00

The following write ups were excerpts from the Accountants Today (August 2008)- a professional journal of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). It is an important reminder for all accounting professionals.

Following the September 11 tragedy in the USA in 2001, a new law known as the Anti Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Act (AMLATFA 2001) was introduced in Malaysia. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)research highlighted a trend in the use of complex commercial arrangements by money launderers and terrorism financiers to hide their money trail. These arrangements often use the services of professionals such as lawyers, accountants and company secretaries. Arising from this trend, the FATF standards require countries to improve their Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)on Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) Sector. In Malaysia, the DNFBPs include casinos,real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, lawyers, companies secretaries, accountants and other independent legal professions. All have been made reporting institutions. Reporting institutions shall report to the Financial Intelligent Unit (FIU) in Bank Negara, any transactions where the identity of the persons involved, the transaction itself or any other circumstances concerning that transactions give any officer or employee of that reporting institutions, reasons to suspect that the transactions involve proceeds of an unlawful activity. Research in this are is still limited and ARI is in the best position to lead research in this AML/CFT sector....

PECIPTA 2011

2011-04-12T02:00:00.000+08:00

The second PECIPTA meeting was held today. Chaired by Prof Dr Azni Zain Ahmed, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & Internationalization), it was a full attendance by all committee members. The committee essentially decides and makes a proposal on assessment criteria for different categories of participation to the organising committee. Another national level meeting, attended by representatives from other Malaysian universities will be held to discuss our proposal. A new category, the Young Inventors Award particularly focuses on secondary school participants who will be competing and showcasing their new inventions and innovations. PECIPTA 2011 ensures originality of ideas by making sure that all competing products obtain their copyright certificates. There will also be a business matching session at PECIPTA 2011.

Master by Research at ARI

2011-04-09T15:37:00.000+08:00

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is offering Master of Accountancy program in specialized areas of (i) Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology and (ii)Islamic Accounting & Muamalat. This specialized Master by research is a two year program, but students with good research projects may apply to "transfer" and convert to a higher PhD program. Possible topics in Financial Criminology may include among others:(i) Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) Initiatives by Banks; (ii) Development of Typologies and Indicators for ML/TF in Financial Institutions; (iii) New Methodologies in Detecting Financial and Economic Crime; (iv) Pinancial Fraud Prevention Mechanism; (v) Fraud Risk Indicators and many others.
Meanwhile, some researchable topics in Islamic Accounting & Muamalat may include:
(i) Islamic Microfinancing - A Supply Chain Perspectives; (ii) Shariah Audit and Islamic Accounting Framework; (iii) Sukuk; (iv) Islamic Capital Market and others.

ARI wishes to invite qualified and interested candidates to apply. Financial assistance in the form of Graduate Research Assistanship is available. For others who are keen to be an academic researcher at ARI, we are also offering the Young Researcher Scheme (YRS)option.

Two New Post-Doc Appointments at ARI

2011-03-30T15:58:00.000+08:00

ARI wishes to congratulate two researchers who have been appointed as Post-Doctoral Scholars at the Accounting Research Institute. The first candidate is Dr Yaseen Al-Janadi, our former Phd student who has just recently graduated. Dr Yaseen commenced his post-doctoral program on 1st March 2011. The second candidate is Dr Kighir, A.E. from Nasrawa State University Keffi, Nigeria. Dr Kighir will start his appointment on 1st July 2011. One of the main tasks of post-doc scholars is to publish research articles in reputable journals that are indexed with SCOPUS and ISI Thomson. They are also to facilitate ARI in getting international collaboration and international research funding. As a director of ARI, I am confident that they will both produce their deliverables. Welcome aboard...

ABS Invitation

2011-03-27T16:26:00.000+08:00

I really felt honoured for being invited to speak at a recent seminar in Singapore. The Counter Financing Terrorism (CFT) seminar was being organized by the Consortium of Counter-Financing Terrorism group (CCFT) comprising the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore. I was asked to share global research findings on terrorism financing. My most valuable experience in Singapore was the ability to network with experts in this area. In our effort to become a research reference centre in areas related to financial criminology, it is vital that ARI networks with the world's best in this area. Thank you ABS for sponsoring my trip and my three-day stay in Singapore...

AML-CFT Workshop in Malaysia

2011-03-26T15:30:00.000+08:00

The CFT seminar in Singapore has been very successful. The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) as the main organiser of the seminar has been very instrumental in the success of the seminar. Every year, ABS would organize seminars for its members. Following yesterday's successful seminar, the forthcoming seminar on Financial Crime is already scheduled for 1st July 2011. What is more impressive is the ability of ABS to attract members to participate in its event. ARI hopes to be able to attract bankers in Malaysia to participate in our forthcoming workshop in May 2011. The inaugural CFT workshop is jointly organized by ARI and the CCFT - a consortium in which ARI is its newly invited member. In essence, the workhop will basically emulate the successful seminar in Singapore. Our hope is that our Malaysian bankers will be supportive of our initiative and will be as enthisiatic as their Singaporean counterparts....

Islamic Accounting & Muamalat Research Centre: A New Kid on the Block

2011-03-25T05:01:00.000+08:00

The formation of the Islamic Accounting and Muamalat Research Centre (IAMRC)was to support ARI's research capability in Islamic Accounting, Islamic Finance and Shariah Audit.
Initially formed as an SIG in early 2010 and upgraded to a full blown research centre in March 2011, IAMRC is indeed a "new kid on the block". IAMRC is currently headed by Dr Nawal Kasim and assisted by Associate Profesor Dr Mohd Azam from CITU. Though new, IAMRC constitutes an important smart collaboration between ARI, Centre of Islamic Thought & Understanding (CITU)and other Islamic-based agencies in the country. Upon ARI HICoE being entrusted with a niche research area of Islamic Financial Criminology, I knew for a fact that ARI needed to quickly set up its research capability in Islamic Accounting and Finance. Our first "stop" for help was to discuss with CITU on possible research topics that the two entities can collaborate on. Then ARI researchers went on a full "tour" to visit and discuss with many officers and researchers of Islamic-based institutions and agencies in Malaysia. Included in our visits were: Baitulmal, Zakat Centres, IKIM, JAKIM, YAPeIM, ISRA, IBFIM, INCEIF, Bank Islam, SC-Islamic Compliant and several mosques. We have also invited several international scholars and researchers as visiting professors at ARI. As a result of those visits, ARI is currently pursuing several research projects funded by the ARI HICoE research fund. The year 2011 will see IAMRC going international with potential research collaborations with universities in Bahrain and the United Kingdom. ARI Deputy Director, Professor Dr Rashidah has initiated several "early-wins" collaborations with four universities in the UK. They are namely, Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Oxford; University of Dundee; University of Durham and University of Birmingham. IAMRC's journey towards internationalization will be further supported and expedited with the appointments of several international scholars and post doctoral students in the second half of 2011. As a director of ARI, I am confident that IAMRC has the potential of going international....

AFARe: InternationalizationThrough Smart Partnership

2011-03-22T23:53:00.000+08:00

In comparison to our other research centres, the Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe)is fairly new. Co-established with two international partners, The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE - USA) and The Centre of Forensic Science (University of Teesside -UK)in 2008, AFARe's core activities include research, training & consultancy, yearly international conference, product innovation and publication. AFARe was also formed to support our premier post graduate programmes: Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology and PhD in Forensic Accounting. Though newly established three years ago, AFARe receives tremendous support from various national and international partners. At the national level, one of our earliest supporters was the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC). Whilst still an SIG, researchers from the cluster conducted three cohorts of forensic accounting programs with MACC for the years 2003 to 2005. The 3-month program was to train MACC's senior officers. Upon completion of the program, MACC established its own forensic accounting unit. Our successful collaboration with MACC was later echoed by seven other government agencies namely the Inland Revenue Board, The Royal Malaysian Police, The Royal Malaysian Customs, The Auditor General Office, The Accountant General Office, the AG Chambers and the Central Bank of Malaysia, when they too organized some programs to train their senior officers in the area of forensic accounting. In fact I am proud to say that UiTM, through ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy has been responsible in the development and enhancement of human capacity in the areas of forensic accounting and financial criminology for the country. In addition to our training collaboration with various agencies, we have also successfully produced five cohorts of the Master in Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology graduates. By June 2011, an association named Malaysian Association of Forensic Accounting Experts (MACFE) will be established by our graduates. To date, AFARe has been successful in organizing three international conferences in Financial Criminology (ICFC)for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. A forthcoming ICFC is already scheduled in June 2011. At the national level, AFARe and ARI are in partnership with agencies such as MIA, MAREF, CCM, FIU, CONG and IBFIM. In term of international collaborations, our partners include the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE, USA); The Association of Certified Anti-money laundering Specialists (ACAMS, USA); The Forensic Science Centre, University of Teeside UK; Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Under the leadership of its current head, Professor Dr Rozainun Abd Aziz, more international collaborations will be forged within the next few years. AFARe aspires to go fully international by 2015....

AMARC: An Evolutionary Journey Towards Internationalization

2011-03-21T20:43:00.000+08:00

The CIMA-UiTM Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC) is one of the earliest research centre formed by the university in 2002. In fact I was AMARC's founding head. When AMARC was first established, it was a synergistic collaboration between the Faculty of Accountancy and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). CIMA gave a seed funding amounting RM10,000 and the university matched that amount. With RM20,000, it was fairly comfortable for AMARC to kickstart its activities. AMARC and CIMA worked tirelessly to complete two collaborative research projects in the first year of AMARC establishement. Upon completion of our two projects (i) Management Accounting Practices in Malaysia and (ii)Job Profiles and Job Characteristics of Management Accountants in Malaysia, a lot of papers were published in professional journals, refereed journals and book chapters. Some other papers were presented at national and international conferences. Our first year activities caught the attention of CIMA president in the UK and I was invited to present what I consider the "landmark" paper at the first CIMA International Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, in early 2003, AMARC was invited by Professor Akira Nishimura, from Kyushu University in Japan to participate in an international management accounting research which was sponsored by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Upon completion of our project, I was sponsored by JSPS to undertake another research project in Japan which focussed on Japanese Management Accounting in the Automobile Industry. For that project, I collaborated with four Japanese universities namely, Kyushu University, Kyushu Sangyo University, University of Konan and University of Tsukuba. The internationalization of AMARC was spearheaded by these collaborations. As AMARC founding members, Prof Ibrahim and I, were invited by Prof Akira Nishimura to form an international association called the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA). The founding members of this newly formed association comprised ten international professors from Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

With some international reputations, Dean Professor Dr Ibrahim convinced the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), CIMA and NPC to work collaboratively with AMARC on a national benchmarking project called the National Award for Management Accounting (NAfMA). NAfMA was launched by CIMA president during CIMA's second international conference in 2004 and the first NAfMA competition began.

Today, both AMARC and APMAA work closely together to bring our two entities to much greater heights. Our focus now is not just limited to the Asian or Asia-Pacific regions. Under the leadership of Prof Datin Dr Suzana, AMARC will venture into more international research collaborations with professors from the USA, Australia, Africa, New Zealand, Canada and Europe. We have targeted to be fully international by the year 2015...

The Establishement of the Islamic Accounting and Muamalat Research Centre (IAMRC)

2011-03-18T22:11:00.000+08:00

In support of its HICoE niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology, the formation a new research cluster in Islamic Accounting & Muamalat was presented and approved today at ARI's monthly meeting.
Formally known as IAMRC, the newly formed research cluster is headed by Dr Nawal Kassim, a research fellow at ARI. Dr Nawal received her PhD in Shariah Audit from the International Islamic University . Dr Nawal is assisted by Associate Professor Dr Mohd Azam who graduated from the University of London in Shariah Law. As a director of ARI, I am fully convinced that the two leaders and researchers will be able to lead IAMRC to greater heights.
To date, IAMRC has gathered more than twenty members from respective faculties and academic centres at the university. A total of twenty one research proposals have been approved. The group has also published thirteen concept papers in Islamic Accounting and Muamalat prior to the formation of IAMRC. Congratulations all

Talk Show at TV9

2011-03-17T09:47:00.000+08:00

I was invited to a Live Talk Show on TV9. Though it was a fairly "last minute" thing, I obliged firstly, because the topic is very close to my heart and secondly, the publicity through the national media will be great for ARI. The topic, "Women's Position as Decision Makers in Corporate Malaysia". The talk show program called "Hujah" picks up current issue or issues and invite the public to participate in the discussion. Basically, the topic was chosen in response to the latest Grant Thornton International Research findings which saw Malaysia being ranked fifth in the world as far as women's role in senior positions in the country is concerned. Despite being ranked fifth, and 39% of Malaysian women were said to be holding senior positions in government and the private sectors, one must view the findings carefully. Whilst Grant Thornton study focuses on small to large private-owned companies, it did not investigate the position of women in public-listed or government companies. Yes, may be it is true that more Malaysian women are involved in businesses. Our recent survey with the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group on 900 public listed companies indicates that more than 60% of PLCs do not have a single woman on Board and only 3 percent of them has at least 1 woman independent director. Surprise? Not really. But the bigger issue here is whether wowen are indeed less capable than men?. Are they given equal opportunity to achieve the highest possible position as decision makers?. Personally, I think women are just as capable as men decision makers. At the same time, there's ample opportunity for women to go up the corporate ladder. My personal view is that, women at one point or another in their career, will have to make some very personal, yet important and difficult decisions. Some may require sacrifices such that they may need to "postpone" their personal career agenda over motherhood. However, once they overcome their own challenges, they can become great leaders. Never mind the "low statistics". After all, being great is not necessarily through board rooms alone. The opportunity is always there....

Malaysian Top Business School.....

2011-03-14T18:34:00.000+08:00

Today I participated in a group discussion organized by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE)to redefine what is really expected when one is considered a "Top Business School" or TBS. Also invited in the discussions were Deans and members of Malaysian Business Schools, practitioners as well as appointed assessors for the TBS. At the national level, TBS is part of MOHE's Strategic Plans for Higher Institutions in Malaysia. As part of the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) Agenda, a TBS is expected to produce the necessary human capital for the country. A TBS is also to produce the right talent to uphold Malaysia's aspiration to become a "high-income" nation by 2020. MOHE wants top business schools to be self-sustaining and to generate their own income. In today's meeting, participants were basically encouraged to give their views, to raise issues and to address challenges often faced by Malaysian Business Schools. Forthcoming meetings will address these issues and find solutions to overcome them.

Collaborative Project with ASNAF

2011-03-01T09:41:00.000+08:00

Today ARI and the faculty of Accountancy UiTM received three guests who are Malaysian members from ASNAF: Dato' Mohamad Aidid, Tn Hj Atarek Kamil and Mr Shamsul Khairi. ASNAF is the Federation of ASEAN Accounting Firms, an alliance of accounting firms in various countries across the ASEAN region and throughout Asia including Australia and New Zealand. The five founding members of ASNAF are representatives from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore (Thailand joined as the sixth member followed by Vietnam). We basically discussed on possible collaboration that our university can offer with the ASNAF's Malaysian Chapter. In view of the new and dynamic economic and business environment, accounting firms must invest in human capital. In today's business environment, accounting firms must think global and identify their niche. Some of the new competencies that accountants need to develop include forensic accounting, financial criminology, Islamic accounting, Islamic Finance and Shariah audit....

Forensic Accounting Methodology

2011-02-28T11:04:00.000+08:00

Today the Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology students made their in-class oral presentations on topics related to data analysis tools to detect fraudulant financial transactions. Among the tools discussed include the use of the following: Beneish Model, Benford Law, Direct/Indirect Method, Z-Scores, Networth Analysis, Data Mining, Social Network Analysis, Control Account Analysis, the use of Fraud Risk Indicators and Financial Statement Analysis. Basically, in their presentation, the students had to apply their chosen tool or techniques to a specific financial fraud case and use their analysis to detect and investigate financial statement fraud. Congratulations all for jobs well done...Actually there's a lot of available tools out there. Some are basic tools which involve thorough understanding of the accounting principles whilst others are in the form of sophisticated software. Forensic accountants and financial fraud investigators must equipped themselves with new knowledge and competencies. An effective financial fraud investigator must possess at the very least, the following skills and competencies: knowledge in law, auditing, accounting, Information technology, psychology, analytical skill, statistical knowledge and people skill.

Higher Research Weightage

2011-02-11T01:17:00.000+08:00

One of the most exciting things being mentioned by the Deputy Vice Chancellor during his deliberation at the Academic Conference today was the review of teaching hours being assigned to researchers at centres of excellence. Effective immediately, research hours for research fellows will now account for 80% and the remaining 20% is teaching or supervision hours. This is certainly great news for researchers at ARI. We can now plan for bigger things and produce more results....

Welcome Prof Susumo Ueno

2011-02-07T21:17:00.000+08:00

ARI wishes to welcome Prof Susumo Ueno, our visiting professor from Konan University, Japan who is on a one week visit to UiTM. Professor Ueno is a well-known professor in management accounting. He is also the President of the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA) which is based in Japan. Whilst visiting the university, Prof Ueno has a relatively tight schedule. Various events such as research discussion on a recent international research collaboration involving seven Asian universities; discussions with CIMA; visit to the site of APMAA's forthcoming conference in Kuala Lumpur; PhD students progress presentation; research consultation for post-graduate students & researchers and professorial talk on Japanese management accounting.
As the Chief Editor of the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal (APMAJ) which is hosted by UiTM, Professor Ueno held several meetings with managing editors and journal administrators of the journal...

COEs As Responsibility Centres

2011-02-02T00:16:00.001+08:00

The university has recently announced the establishment of six centres of excellence as Responsibility Centres. The six CoEs are namely the Accounting Research Institute (National HICoE), Malaysian Institute of Transport (MITRANS), Institute of Science (IOS), Research Institute of Natural Remedies (IKUS), IIESM and the Institute of Forensic Sciences. With the announcement, the university will facilitate the CoEs by providing them with tier-based budget and support staff. The CoE's fellowship program will also be further improved.

HICoE Bigger Role

2011-01-28T00:09:00.000+08:00

In his New Year Speech delivered recently, the YB Minister of Higher Education Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin noted some very pertinent messages related to the roles and functions of the HICoEs within the Government Transformation Program. HICoEs are expected to form international research consortiums with renowned research centres to conduct research projects within their niche research areas. They must be international players that can place Malaysia on the world map. In tandem with this aspiration, HICoEs are expected to produce "Roadmap" that would allow them to be autonomous by the end of 2013. Though this is a tall order, I personally believe that it can be achieved, HICoEs just need to remain focused. For ARI, our niche research areas are namely Islamic Accounting & Finance and Financial Criminology. For 2011, each research project will involve a collaboration with at least one international partner....

Islamic Micro Financing

2011-01-25T00:06:00.000+08:00

Perhaps Islamic banks in Malaysia should consider developing new product in the form of Islamic Micro Financing - Linking prospective young, aspiring but disadvantaged enterpreneurs with established wholesalers. Existing concepts and model used by the Gramin Bank in Bangladesh could be further innovated to elevate the economic status of these potential enterpreneurs. Interested researchers should develop and innovate a possible working framework for this product...

Condolence Message

2011-01-20T07:32:00.000+08:00

Our deepest condolence to our associate member Associate Professor Dr Nor'azam Mastuki over the demise of his beloved wife, Cikgu Hawa today. May Allah blesses her soul and gives you and your family strengths to face this very difficult time...Alfatihah

The Gaharu Fragrance - A Professorial Lecture

2011-01-13T07:42:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Prof Dr Ku Halim Ku Hamid for a very successful professorial lecture titled: Enhancing The World Fragrance Through Malaysian Bio-Gaharu. The lecture elaborated on his long-standing reseach on Gaharu trees which and are most suited with the Malaysian soil and climate. Prof Ku Halim spoke on the characteristics of the tree, the cosmetic and healing aspects of Gaharu and the economic prospects of the Gaharu industry for Malaysia and specifically for Gaharu planters in this country. Interestingly Prof Ku Halima recited numerous verses in the Quran and Hadith implying the importance and usefulness of the Gaharu products for human well beings.
At the end of the professorial lecture, a memorandum of understanding was signed between UiTM and the Southern Farm Valley (Johore, Malaysia). Based on the great demand for this product, there's certainly a big potential of Gaharu industry in this country.

Research Visits to Singapore

2011-01-06T23:45:00.000+08:00

As part of our research collaboration and international networking initiatives, we spent a great four days in Singapore. ARI members: Prof Ibrahim Kamal, Prof Rashidah, Dr Radiah and I visited several two universities namely NTU & SMU, an accounting firm, a non-profit organization, the ACCSB and the charity commission. At NTU, we met with researchers at two different research centres: Accounting & Auditing Research Centre and the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research

MORPA Awards

2011-01-06T03:12:00.000+08:00

I wish to congratulate our researchers who have won various MORPA (Most Outstanding Research & publication in Accounting) awards to be announced during a seminar to be held today at the Intekma Resorts in shah Alam. The Seminar is collaboratively organized by MYAA, ARI, MOHE and MAREF. Congratulations Associate Professor Dr Lai Ming Ling, Dr Radiah Othman and a few of our PhD students (I will update the full listing upon my return from Singapore after the weekend).

Strategic Alliance Visit to ICPVTR

2011-01-03T03:02:00.000+08:00

One of ARI's VCSP Strategic Alliance project with top notch research centres is with the International Center for political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) of the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. ICPVTR is a renowned research center that focuses on research related to Counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering. Our research project entitled "Non-Profit Organizations: Transparency and Accountability Reporting Framework in Mitigating Money laundering Activities is a collaboration between ARI, ICPVTR, CCM Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia. The visit will be on 4th january to 7th January 2011.

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-02T02:53:00.000+08:00

i wish to congratulate all ARI members for a great year in 2010. Everyone had worked very hard to make ARI HICoE visible. In tandem with our newly assigned niche research area in Islamic Financial Criminology, ARI has networked with various organizations whose forte are either Islamic Accounting & Finance and/or Financial Criminology: Islamic banks, JAKIM, IKIM, UIA, INCEIF, ISRA, CCM, FIU, Baitulmal, Bank Negara Malaysia, the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (NTU Singapore), are just few names that we have approached and to embark on new research projects. We had our research retreat and conduscted our five-year strategic planning workshop. I personally believed that 2011 will be much better as our initiatives will start to bear fruits. I am looking forward to more indexed publications and more external grants for the new year...

VCSP- Strategic Alliance With Top Notch Research Centres

2010-12-29T10:06:00.000+08:00

I am personally glad to be appointed as the "Project Manager" by the university under the Vice Chancellor Special Project (VCSP Project) titled Strategic Alliance with Top Notch Research Centre. As a HICoE, ARI has been able to play a leading role in this project. Alhamdullillah, to date ARI has managed to secure two research collaborations: (1) A Management Accounting research with the Accounting Research Centre, National Taiwan University (NTU) and (2)A Non-Profit Organization Research with the International Centre of Political Violence & Terrorism Research of the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. We hope to produce meaningful spin-offs in the forms of international publications, joint-conferences and international linkages that will benefit all entities.

Alumni Publication Projects

2010-12-28T10:17:00.000+08:00

For 2011, ARI hopes to collaborate with the UiTM Allumni Association and the Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor (student affairs & Allumni)of UiTM in two publications: (1) Who-and-Who of UiTM Allumni and (2) A year Book. A preliminary discussion has been held today between ARI (represented by me), the Allumni Association (represented by the VP Research) and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, We hope this project will take off in the first quarter of 2011 with our own Accountancy allumni. The team needs to define and agree on a scope to focus as it is almost impossible to write on all 400,000 UiTM alumni that the university has produced to date...

Dr Zuraidah's Visit to the University of Riau

2010-12-24T14:00:00.000+08:00

ARI wishes to congratulate Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah Sanusi, Head of the Audit & Assurance Special Interest Group at ARI for the recent invitation she received from the University of Riau, Indonesia. Dr Zuraidah has been invited to share her expertise and experiences in conducting successful research projects in the areas of Auditing & Assurance.
One of her research products, AQuR or Audit Quality Rating is currently used by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants to evaluate the performance of Small and Medium Accounting Firms in Malaysia. She is also there to promote Accounting Research Institute.

Formation of The Society of Financial Criminologists

2010-12-23T13:52:00.000+08:00

I was informed by some of our Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology graduates that they are planning to establish and register a new group of professional in forensic accounting. Tentatively it could be known as the Society of Financial Criminologists. In view of the increasing trend in financial fraud and financial crimes, Financial Criminologists are highly specialized professionals who are competent in fraud prevention, fraud investigation and fraud detection. ARI is willing to facilitate the group in making this vision realized in 2011. I was informed that Pakistan has just recently launched its Institute of Forensic Accountants. Perhaps, moving forward, Malaysia should also consider doing the same...

Thank You Prof Omar Masood

2010-12-22T00:21:00.000+08:00

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof Omar Masood for his contributions as a visiting professor at ARI. He was visiting ARI and the university for two weeks and was involved with a lot of ARI activities. First was the seminar that ARI co-organized with IBFIM where he was the main facilitator. Then the workshop cum seminar that he and Prof Sofian from Trisakni University conducted for ARI staff and post graduate students. He was also involved as speaker for our International conference on Financial Criminology. In between these events was discussions with PhD students and lecturers to discuss papers that he co-authored. Finally, he was kind enough to attend our strategic planning retreat and to give talks on international grants, off-shore post graduate program and ARI international linkages. Thank you sir for your kind contributions.

ARI HICoE Research Progress Presentations

2010-12-21T00:21:00.000+08:00

On the third day of ARI's Strategic Planning Retreat, researchers presented their progress reports. I was evaluating papers related to Islamic Financial Criminology. A total of twenty titles were presented by researchers in three parallel sessions. All in all the evaluators are fairly happy with the progress. A total of thirteen research projects have published at least a concept paper in international refereed journals. It is expected that by the next progress presentation in June 2011, researchers would be able to publish one paper with empirical findings in refereed journals. In addition, all researchers will need to present their research results at conferences that are indexed with Scopus or ISI Thomson.

Congratulations Excellence Award Receipients

2010-12-20T23:44:00.000+08:00

I wish to congratulate all ARI and Faculty of Accountancy Excellence Award receipients 2010. They certainly deserved the award. Dr Intan Salwani, Dr Kalsom Salleh, Associate Professor Dr Asmah Abdul Aziz and Associate Prof Dr Lai Ming Ling received their awards today during the Innovation Day ceremony held at the Dewan Sri Budiman (DSB). The event was graced by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students Affairs and Alumni) YBhg Prof Dato' Dr Abdullah Said. In addition to the yearly excellence award recognition, the Faculty of Accountancy has also won the Vice Chancellor Quality awards for three (3) categories: Best Strategic Planning, Best Processes and Best Overall Achievements. Congratulations.

MITRANS MOHE Audit

2010-12-17T23:53:00.000+08:00

Exactly two years ago, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) underwent the MOHE HICoE audit. I remembered very well the anxiety that all members had to experience. Today, another university's CoE - the Malaysian Institute of Transport (MITRANS)has been shortlisted to go through similar audit. I was invited by MITRANS to attend the briefing session in the morning. As MITRANS has successfully passed the document audit, the assessors are here to validate on site all the documents that have been submitted earlier on. I hope MITRANS will join the bandwagon to become another HICoE (Service thrust) from the university. Good luck...

Islamic Finance & Muamalat Seminar

2010-12-14T00:05:00.000+08:00

As speakers to the forthcoming ICFC 2010 conference on 14-15 December 2010, Prof Omar Masood from the University of East London and Prof Sofian from Trisakni University, Indonesia presented their papers today at a 1-day "pre-conference" seminar on Islamic Finance and Muamalat which was organized by the Accounting Research Institute. The audiences are mainly ARI/faculty staff and students. Premised on his own experiences, Omar advised participants to identify industry needs for each research project that they embarked on. it is through understanding such needs that research spin offs can be multiplied and it is much easier to get funding. Prof Sofian, in his own simple and practical illustrations, relate the concepts of Islamic accounting as a fraud deterrent mechanism.

Malaysia Top Business Schools

2010-08-27T07:40:00.000+08:00

As a director of ARI, I felt deeply honourned for the invitation extended by the Higher Insstitutions Division of the Ministry of Higher Edication (MOHE) to be part of the bigger team to evaluate the Malaysian Top Business Schools. Currently, two business schools from two local public universities have been accorded the prestigious stature. In essence, top business schools are expected to spearhead development of post graduate programs by focusing on international students, international faculty members, income-generation initiatives, cited publications and to conduct fundamental research projects that bring in high impact to the nation. Since the first recognition was given in 2007, this evaluation is made after their three years in operation.

Signing of Research Agreements

2010-08-25T23:39:00.000+08:00

Today we organise a small ceremony to witness the signing of research agreement between ARI and the Accountants General Department for two research projects: The traits and skills of forensic accountants for AGD and Financial Reporting of Malaysian Local Authority.
As a director of ARI, I have to sign on behalf of the researchers. Prof Ibrahim Kamal, the Dean of the Faculty of Accountancy stood as a witness. The first expected deliverable will be produced by the end of October,2010. All researchers for the two projects attended the "ceremony"

Breaking Fast With the Vice Chancellor

2010-08-23T23:50:00.000+08:00

As a director of ARI, I was invited by the university's top management to a "Breaking Fast with the Vice Chancellor" at Hotel UiTM. The host of this event was from the Student Affairs department. Deans of faculties, directors of state campuses, directors of centres of excellence and deputy deans (student affairs) have been invited to the event. As UiTM is also the host to a meeting of Deputy Vice Chancellors of public universities to be held tomorrow, deputy vice chancellors were our special guests for the event.

Congratulations Dr Kalsom

2010-08-18T15:01:00.000+08:00

ARI wishes to congratulate Dr Kalsom Salleh, Prof Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad and Mr Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan for winning the Best Paper Award at the recent Knowledge Management International Conference. Their paper titled "Learning Factors of Public Sector Accountants and Sharing Process of Tacit Knowledge" won the award under the Knowledge Creation & Knowledge Sharing category. Congratulations...

Breaking Fast with Bank Rakyat

2010-08-18T12:56:00.001+08:00

I wish to thank the Bank Rakyat (Selangor Division) for inviting me to their Breaking Fast dinner at the Saujana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. It is an annual event aimed to show their appreciation to their stakeholders. Bank Rakyat is a two-time winner of the National Award for Management Accounting (NAfMA)competition in Malaysia of which UiTM/ARI through our CIMA-UiTM Asian Management Accounting Research Centre is a joint partner. At the event, Bank Rakyat gave away some donations to some orphans from Klang. Thank you...

CPA Strategic Planning Meeting

2010-08-11T13:06:00.000+08:00

As a Divisional Council member, I was invited to participate in the CPA (Australia) strategic planning meeting held at the Gardens Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. To facilitate the full-day meeting, the Malaysian Council Division has invited a renowned business action coach, Mr Peter Lam. All in all it was indeed a successful meeting. Having someone knowledgeable in this area to facilitate us to go through the strategic planning discussion was indeed helpful to us all, particularly for the need to "look at things from outside the box"...

A Birthday Surprise.....

2010-08-07T14:21:00.000+08:00

Thanks to all ARI staff for throwing a suprise birthday "party" to both Prof Rashidah & I today. We really appreciate everything: the flowers, the cake and the prayers. Insyaallah we will both work our level best to elevate ARI to greater heights. To all ARI members, thanks for all your supports

Welcome Ramadhan1431

2010-08-01T23:56:00.000+08:00

Tentatively the 1st day of Ramadhan 1431 is scheduled this Wednesday, 11th August 2010. I wish all ARI members a peaceful month. I personally would get a lot more things done during the fasting month. Well, there's more time to finish the "literature review" or to complete the "concept papers" or "journal papers" due to the extra morning hours after the sahur breakfast. Perhaps I can expect a lot of papers done after the holy month of Ramadhan.....

A Great Reunion

2010-08-01T14:33:00.000+08:00

Every four years, our group: The Diploma in Accountancy Class 1974-1977 will meet. It is always a very happy occasion for all of us, to meet friends. It is a great way to network. . This year (today) we met at Hotel UiTM. In fact a lot of ARI's successful research collaboration have gone through this network of friends who are now holding important positions in the industry. Mohd Hashim is with Petronas; Basil is with Esso; Noraini is with Johnson & Johnson; Paisol is with PNB; Mutalib is an accounting practitioner; Din & Rahman, Rashid, Nik Aziz, Halijah, Zainab, Faridah,Dollah, Ibrahim, Kejol and many others are successful businessmen & businesswomen; Nafisah, Akmal, Norain, Sanip, Mun, Shidah are top officers in the government. We had great time as students in the 1970's and continue to build our friendships till today. uiTM has indeed changed our lives. Thanks friends, till we meet again in 2014....

Highly Competitive FRGS Grants

2010-07-30T22:15:00.000+08:00

I am just back from the FRGS evaluation meeting in Malacca. To date, the second round FRGS 2010 (2/FRGS)has seen the highest number of proposals being submitted. Reviewers were very focused looking for projects that fit the requirements of FRGS. The most common problem often faced by reviewers was to look for the fundamental elements of FRGS research in a research proposal. Research should be premised on existing or current problem, the solving of which requires new methodology, new model, enhanced theory. The results expected will be in the forms of new policy or legislation, better quality of life, better sustainability or even improved capability of human capital...

Inaugural Corporate Governance Essay Competition 2010

2010-07-26T22:52:00.000+08:00

The Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) is organising an Inaugural Corporate Governance Essay Competition 2010. This competition will be opened to all undergraduates currently enrolled in any recognized institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. Among others, the aim of this competition is to engage with future leaders of the country into thinking about the current state of corporate governance in Malaysia and what role these future leaders can play to enhance it. I hope UiTM undergraduate students can participate in the competition....

ARI Welcomes Prof Behnaz

2010-07-24T07:31:00.000+08:00

ARI has appointed Prof Behnaz from the United States of America as a visiting professor and she will be spending time at our university for slightly more than two weeks effective 5th August 2010. Whilst she is here, she has been tasked to facilitate the conversion of students thesis into journal articles which could be published in indexed international journals. Currently, Prof Behnaz is also a member of several research projects with ARI researchers. ARI is also encouraging ARI members to initiate joint authorship with Prof Behnaz. A talk of publishing will also be organized for staff and student researchers. Prof Rashidah will act as a liasson officer for Prof Behnaz's visit....

Islamic Finance Industry - Global Prospect

2010-07-23T14:04:00.000+08:00

It was indeed interesting to listen to the talk on Islamic Finance Industry given by visiting professor Dr Humayoun Dar, from the University of Labourough, United Kingdom. Whilst the Islamic finance is currently growing to an impressive USD3trillion industry, the size is still small compared to the contributions of conventional financial system at USD100 trillion. There's still a lot to be done by industry players to make Islamic Financial institutions an alternative mechanism to build business transactions globally. Prof Humayoun posits that the Islamic finance industry must also focus among others, on eradicating poverty of ummah, commiting to community development and social responsibility... Prof Dar is in the middle, holding the bag.

Plagarism

2010-07-23T07:46:00.000+08:00

I personally applaud the stance taken by the university to heavily punish plagarism offenders. As researchers, we are encouraged to cite the work of others. This is particularly important so that we can add value to existing body of knowledge.
Effective this semester, all thesis, project papers, research articles and research monographs will go through the "turnitin" plgarism software. Researchers and students are to take note that all write ups that do not "get through" the plagarism test will be returned. Surely this will delay your submission process. For students, this might delay your graduation date. Think about it...

Formation of GLCRC Approved....

2010-07-21T20:31:00.000+08:00

Today ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy submitted a joint-working paper to form another research centre within ARI Framework. The formation of the Government-Linked Companies Research Centre (GLCRC)has been approved today by the University's Executive Committee Meeting (comprising the VC, 4 DVCs, Bursar, Registrar and the Head Librarian). In the running of GLCRC, ARI hopes to collaborate with two GLC-related entities. Meetings and discussions are still under way before a formal decision could be made. In the meantime, GLCRC will kickstart its research activities through existing FRGS and ARI HICoE fundings. Dr Azmi Abd Hamid will lead GLCRC. With this latest edition, ARI now has seven research centres namely GLCRC, CIMA-UiTM Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC), UiTM-MICG Corporate Governance Research Centre (CGRC), UiTM-ACCA Financial Reporting Research Centre (FRRC), Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe), UiTM-ACCA Sustainability Research Centres (APCeS) and UiTM CPA Public Sector Research Centre PSARC). Congratulations...

New Group of Applied Research Students

2010-07-17T20:48:00.000+08:00

Today I met another cohort of applied Research students who are mainly from two Master Programs namely Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology and Master in Corporate Governance. It is always very refreshing to meet up with new group of students. Students are basically to propose an applied research topics that are of their interest. As much as possible, students are encouraged to do a case study of their own organisation. Doing a real life case study related to corporate governance or forensic accounting is certainly very enriching...

AGC Seminar in Forensic Accounting

2010-07-14T21:16:00.000+08:00

It was an honour to be invited to speak in a seminar organized by the Attorney General Chambers (AGC). The one-day Forensic Accounting Seminar was held at the newly occupied AGC Office in Putrajaya. I was asked to speak on "The Application of Forensic Accounting in Investigation: Analyzing Financial Statements". In view of the increasing number of financial statement fraud being reported, this initiative is certainly timely and appropriate.
For the future, ARI proposes a more long-term training of AGC's human capital either through CPD or graduate program by research. Knowledge and competency in forensic accounting should be a core requirement for all professionals.

FRGS Grant RM100 million?

2010-07-05T19:58:00.000+08:00

In the last cycle of FRGS applications, there were 3,000 applications from both public and private Malaysian universities. I would expect the competition will be stiffer. With RM100 million FRGS grant available for grab, researchers will need to put forward some very fundamental research topics that will creat value to the country. As in the past, we are looking for research topics that adopt new methodology, extended an existing model/theory, produce results that enhance quality of life or improve exiting laws and policies.....

Congratulations Saeid Homayoun

2010-07-03T19:42:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Mr Saeid, our international student from Iran who had recently completed his Master of Accountancy program (by research) under the ever-abled supervision of Prof Dr Rashidah Abdul Rahman, ARI's Deputy Director. His perseverance is exemplary to other students - language is no barrier if you are willing to work hard. He will be pursuing a PhD program in the area of Islamic financial criminology at ARI soon...

Meeting New Researchers

2010-06-24T15:19:00.000+08:00

The FRGS research clinic went well today. Most of those who attended were young researchers who were excited about their first FRGS applications. Dayang Nailul was formerly from UNIMAS and aspires to do research on occupational safety & health in solar energy companies. Though still young and new to UiTM, she has published in at least five refereed international journals. She is currently attached with the faculty of business. Another young researcher, Norzitah is interested to examine shariah-based activities in Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs). Norzitah was formerly from the Islamic International College (a private arm of UIA). Research in shariah-related topic is very much in demand today. I have invited her to become one of ARI associates so that she can use ARI's facilities and resources. In fact ARI had bought a lot of books on Islamic finance. Yusseri is a young lecturer from Sarawak and is interested to introduce new CSR model in green technology companies These young lecturers were very enthusiastic and the university must support them. Good luck and congratulations....

FRGS Research Clinic

2010-06-24T08:08:00.000+08:00

I will be conducting a whole day research clinic tomorrow (24th June 2010) to facilitate researchers prepare and submit their fundamental research grant proposals. The venue will be at the office of Research Management Institute (RMI). Please bring your reference materials to the clinic and we will facilitate you step by step - everyone needs to know what aught to be included and avoided in the proposals. See you there...

UiTM Alumni Association Membership Drive

2010-06-23T08:13:00.000+08:00

As a director of ARI and an alumnus of UiTM, I have been appointed as one of the committee members of the Alumni Association. Currently the association is going for a membership drive. Those out there who are alumni of Universiti Teknologi MARA, please register yourself. Our ultimate aim is how best we can "pay back" the university. Some of our recent activities have included organizing intellectual discourse, submitting our professional feedback to the New Economic Model and 10th Malaysia Plan, facilitating UiTM in retraining graduates to be "industry-ready", special entrepreneurship program for graduates who are keen to venture into business (a collaboration with MITI & SIRIM). The Alumni association also has in stock souvenir items. KIndly browse Alumni website http://www.uitmalumni.com for details

Research on Government Link Companies

2010-06-22T10:58:00.000+08:00

Due to increasing interest towards Malaysia's Government-Linked Companies (GLCs), ARI is planning to establish a new research centre in GLC Research. Dr Azmi Hamid has indicated his interest to lead the centre. As such, ARI invites those interested to become members of this centre to contact me at normah645@salam.uitm.edu.my. Basically, GLCs play a very important role in spearheading competitiveness of Malaysian companies. Currently GLCs contribute towards market capitalization of RM235.5 billion (49 per cent of total capitalization) and employ more than 300,000 people. They also contribute about 17 per cent of the nation’s gross fixed capital formation and account for almost 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. ARI will be submitting a total of seven FRGS research proposals in June 2010 to the Ministry of Higher Education.

Research in Terrorist Financing

2010-06-21T10:47:00.000+08:00

There's an urgent need for ARI to conduct research on either perceptions or allegations related money laundering and terrorist financing activities by charity associations, non-governmental organisations (NGO) or illegitimate use of financial institutions. ARI will be proposing a collaborative research project with the Royal Malaysian Police and the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM) soon. During the past weeks, there have been allegations made in the newspapers that some irresponsible individuals or organisations are trying to abuse the financial system of this country....

A Great Three-Day Weekend

2010-06-14T22:41:00.000+08:00

We had a three-day research and publication retreat at Bukit Tinggi on 11-13 June 2010. All in all, 37 members attended the meeting cum workshops. ARI had invited some colleagues from the Centre in Islamic Thought and Understanding (CITU) to participate in our retreat. We had a very focused agenda. Our deliverables were set at 30 research proposals in Islamic Financial Criminology; 20 concept papers in Islamic Financial Criminology and 20 journal articles in Financial Criminology. Everyone was divided into groups. At the end of the three-day retreat, we managed to complete 34 research proposals, 43 concept papers and 35 journal articles....

Meeting YaPEIM

2010-06-11T17:10:00.000+08:00

YaPEIM stands for "Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia" or Malaysia Islamic Economic, Development Foundation. Basically, YaPEIM was established in 1976 as a prominent socioeconomic development Institution with the aim of improving the Ummah's standard and quality of living which was in tandem with the aspiration of Malaysia's Vision 2020. It was a privileged getting to meet up with Mr Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, the Director of Finance and Investment Division. Through the culture of Amal Jariah (Beneficence) YaPEIM hopes to uplift the Ummah. There's a lot of research potential that ARI and YaPEIM can undertake together...

Six Keys to a Winning Team

2010-06-10T16:39:00.000+08:00

As part of the CPA Australia continuing professional development (CPD) program, I attended a course entitled "Six Keys to a Winning Team" by Mr Ian Homer from Action Coach - a business coaching agency.
The concepts are simple, yet very practical. The six keys to a winning team comprise namely (i) strong leadership, (ii) Written "Rules of the game", (iii) Common goal, (iv) Clear action plan, (v) Support risk taking and (vi) 100% involvement. Next move? Just do it....

New Online FGRS Application

2010-06-06T17:25:00.000+08:00

To all ARI members: please take note that all submissions for the June 2010 Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia will be made through online application. Please browse through the Research Management Institute (RMI) homepage for details: http://rmi.uitm.edu.my/

CSSR papers and Counting

2010-06-06T09:52:00.000+08:00

To date ARI have submitted six papers to CSSR 2010. By the way, the submission is to be made online using a specified format. We are targetting at least twenty participation with 30-40 papers by the deadline of 30th June 2010. ARI has recorded the following participation from leading authors: Prof Rashidah (1), Prof Normah (2), Assoc Prof Dr Wee Shu Hui (2) and Dr Kalsom (1). I am expecting more papers from other ARI, faculty and postgraduate students members. I saw this proverb by Positive Ideas which is definitely applicable to ARI: Coming tohether is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is SUCCESS. Let's Go for IT....

Corporate Integrity and Ethics Framework

2010-06-05T07:12:00.000+08:00

As a director of ARI, I have been invited by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) to lead a research team by academics to develop a Corporate Integrity and Ethics Framework for the country. In view of the numerous corporate scandals nowadays, it is imperative that companies and board of directors of companies should be able to self-assess the level of integrity and ethical values of their own organizations. Our team have reviewed various self-governance instruments currently used by our counterparts globally and we shall be developing suitable tool for Malaysia. If companies proactively take step to self-assess their integrity and ethical values, corrective measures can be taken from time to time...

Showcasing ARI in the Daily Telegraph UK

2010-06-04T09:00:00.000+08:00

One international agency, PM Communication Ltd, a UK-based company is working closely with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to publish a special write up about Malaysia. The focus is specifically on the Higher Education Sector. PM Communication Ltd is one of the agents working with the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom. Included in the write up will be the six HICoES under the Ministry of Higher Education. The team from PM Communication came to interview ARI members recently.

ARI Members

2010-06-03T07:46:00.000+08:00

ARI is inviting researchers who are keen to become our research fellows or research associates to submit your letter of intent to me. Currently we are looking for new researchers whose interest and expertise are in the areas of Islamic Finance, Sha'riah, law (penal code and cybernatic), IT system, Financial criminology, Zakat, Waqf, Islamic Banking, Muamalat and applied accounting. Interested researchers please email me at normah645@salam.uitm.edu.my

Congratulations Applied Researchers

2010-06-02T07:33:00.000+08:00

As per the deadline yesterday, I have received eleven research monographs from the following researchers: Azizul, Badrul Hisham, Haslinda, Hazwani, Juita, Juliana, Mohd Nizar, Mohd Suhaimi, Rohin, Siti Nor'aina and Suzie. Congratulations for your effort and most importantly for "making it happened". Together, everyone achieves more....

Call for Papers in Islamic Financial Criminology

2010-06-01T07:24:00.000+08:00

ARI wishes to invite researchers and authors to submit concept or empirical papers in "Islamic Financial Criminology" for possible special issue publication of our journal , Malaysian Accounting Review. The papers should be about 10-15 pages focussing on issues or prospects related to Islamic Finance and Financial Criminology. All submissions can be sent directly to me at normah645@salam.uitm.edu.my.

A Special Invitation to JAKIM's Muzakarah

2010-05-27T14:50:00.000+08:00

I wish to thank the management of JAKIM for a personal invitation given to me and ARI's two Phd researchers to attend a special Muzakarah session on Shariah Advisory Council for Islamic Institutions in Malaysia on 31 May 2010. We hope to make full use of the invitation to network with members of the Shariah Advisory Council. This is especially useful for us to learn more about the Islamic Finance framework in our forthcoming research in Islamic Financial Criminology.

Visit to CCM

2010-05-26T00:03:00.000+08:00

Prof Dr Rozainun and her team from the Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe) will be organizing their international annual conference on 14-15 December 2010. This year's conference will have a special track on Islamic Financial Criminology. Some national and international speakers have indicated their commitment to participate in the event. The Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) through its CEO Dato' Azmi Ariffin has offered AFARe the CCM auditorium as possible venue for the forthcoming conference. The venue is indeed strategically located. Today, the team went to visit the said location and they were indeed very impressed...

Thank You Nigel

2010-05-25T00:27:00.000+08:00

I wish to thank Mr Nigel Iyer for sending me a complimentary copy of his recent book titled: A Short Guide to Fraud Risk - Fraud Resistance and Detection. He co-authored the book with Martin Samociuk. This just recently released book is one of "the must have" items. I met Nigel at a Fraud and Corruption Summit in London - he was one of the speakers at the summit. Nigel has agreed to be one of the speakers at our forthcoming Financial Criminology Conference this December in Kuala Lumpur.