Download - Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants

CPAs make a difference
Patrick Lo
Chan says one of the biggest challenges
facing the HKACC is retaining cadets, as
students in Hong Kong have to sit through
so many exams. “Some schools also have
a policy that [extra-curricular] activities
should [be] shut down before exams so that
students won’t be distracted. Eventually [the
cadets] don’t have enough time for our training,”
Chan explains.
Another challenge is convincing sometimes
sceptical parents, many of whom
aren’t used to the HKACC’s military-style
training. “We maintain a high standard of
discipline. We will test our students now and
then strictly,” he says. “We are quite different
from other uniform groups which are
more gentle. So many parents say we are not
offering the kind of training that they are
looking for.”
Chan spends almost every Saturday afternoon
fulfilling his duty as an officer and
sometimes, if large functions are scheduled,
his Sundays are taken up too. However, with
the help of his squadron, Chan ensures he is
not overloaded. “It’s a tactic that every officer
uses... we let them [the cadets] do some
42 December 2012
administrative work. I ask them to monitor
attendance for me and count the office
hours since we have to report back to the
government.”
“That’s when I
realized that we do
have a role to play,
which is to fill in
the gaps that the
NGOs cannot fill.”
It also allows Chan to sort out the mistakes
cadets make so that they can eventually work
independently – a useful skill for them when
they enter the workforce, he explains. Having
to do paperwork, however, in no way compromises
Chan’s love for the organization. “I have
a passion to give what I have learned from the
corps and pass it to the next generation.”
Musical charity
“I like to sing a lot. It is something I do in my
leisure time,” says Patrick Lo, partner and
head of risk advisory at RSM Nelson Wheeler
and an Institute member, before bursting
into a few lines of a Frank Sinatra song and
laughing heartily.
When it came to charity, for most of his
life Lo simply did what most of us do – give
money to good causes. “I used to think that
there is not much I can do by myself but if I
give money to large NGOs and charities,
they can work with economies of scale and
achieve much more than I can,” says Lo.
Then, about three years ago, that all
changed when Lo discovered a way to combine
his love of singing and charity together.
One day, as part of the parent-teacher association
at his children’s school, Lo found
out about a forthcoming charitable event
that involved students going to a retirement
home to sing Christmas carols for residents.
“I went along with my wife and I found it
very fascinating because all the elderly people
were actually very happy and were really
enjoying the event,” recalls Lo.
“That’s when I realized that we do have a
role to play, which is to fill in the gaps that
the NGOs cannot fill.” Lo believes he can