ACCA's LIES ON MALAYSIA
The 16 page statement from ACCA council contains a section on Malaysia.
As usual, the council is very economical with information. The council
gives the impression that it has treated Malaysians well. But in reality
it has treated them badly.
-
ACCA members in Malaysia have been treated very very badly
Many now want to completely break away from ACCA and the colonial
mentality of the ACCA leadership.
-
As a calculated insult to Malaysians, ACCA leadership specifically excluded
the Malaysian member of council (Mr. Choi) from any discussions about the
EGM. The same people are also keen to deprive Malaysians of any effective
representation on Council. Senior people are trying to replace Mr. Choi
with a 'poodle'.
-
As regards the lawsuits in Malaysia, ACCA failed to give members timely
(or any) information. Here are some of the key events.
-
On 21st July 1997, ACCA chief executive wrote to the MACPA to confirm
that an ACCA examiner had plagiarized its tax exam paper (see below).
Such an admission had legal repercussions, but the ACCA in-house magazine
remained silent. There was no mention of the event in the 1997 annual report
(published in March 1998) nor any explanation in the in-house magazine
as to how the event had been managed, for example by requiring students
to resit the exam paper, or by reaching out-of-court settlement with the
Malaysian accountancy body. To date, there has been complete silence from
ACCA over its dealings with the MACPA.
-
In 1998, the Malaysian press reported that a disgruntled Malaysian student
had issued a lawsuit against the Association, seeking damages (200 million
Malaysian Ringgits, approximately equal to £32 million) for the stress
suffered from the plagiarisation of the exam paper. This was reported in
the Malaysian press (Daily Express, Sabah, 10 June 1998, page 4). ACCA’s
Malaysian office issued a (undated) press release to refute the claim.
In May 1998, ACCA was officially notified of the lawsuit. AABA released
the news in the UK (see below). It was also picked by the UK press (Accountancy
Age, 14 January 1999, p. 2). Still the ACCA’s in-house magazine made no
mention of the episode. The 1998 annual accounts and report published in
March 1999 made some disclosures about the lawsuit from the student. The
official magazine repeated the same. But there is still no comment on any
implications of the episode involving MACPA. The student eventually reached
out-of-court settlement with the Association and the ACCA issued a press
release.
-
There is still no comment on the reasons for the wholesale sacking of the
ACCA Malaysia staff and the kind of out-of-court settlement reached with
them.
-
ACCA has remained silent about the out-of-court settlements with the owners
of the building where its Malaysian office was located.
-
There is no information about the cost of relauncing ACCA Malaysia and
the lavish fee dinners to entice members.