September Teller 1

People
“... as you embark on your career, I encourage you to be passionately
curious, take a step back every time, and ask “why”. You will be
amazed at what you can achieve with this very simple question.”
eagle that was raised in a chicken farm. It
mimicked the actions of the other chickens
and grew up thinking it was a chicken.
Years passed. One day, the eagle, now older,
saw a magnificent bird soaring gracefully,
high up in the sky. Spell-bound, it asked
“Who’s that?”. “That’s the eagle, the king
of the birds,” said his neighbour, a chicken.
“We will never be like the eagle”, lamented
the chicken. So the eagle lived and died,
thinking it was a chicken.
The truth is I am an accidental CFO. I never
dreamt that I will become a CFO having
started my career as a portfolio manager in
the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation. I joined OCBC Bank in 2007
to manage the bank’s balance sheet, only
to encounter the Global Financial Crisis
in 2009. It was a difficult period as I was
caught in the centre of the liquidity and
credit crisis. I managed the bank’s balance
sheet reasonably well which probably
explained why Mr David Conner, the CEO
of OCBC then, offered me to step into the
role of the CFO in 2011.
While it was a great opportunity, it was also
a daunting one as I had no prior working
experience in accounting. Wouldn’t that be
the minimum pre-requisite for the CFO of a
major bank like OCBC? And I had to step out
of my comfort zone as a portfolio manager
and into unchartered waters of a CFO. But,
I said — “why not” — to David, on the spot.
Well, if David was comfortable to give me
a chance to be the CFO, why should I deny
myself? Why should I be a chicken when I
can be an eagle? It was an offer I could not
refuse.
That was all back in 2011. And here I am
speaking to you in 2018. In between, I
helped the bank acquire Wing Hang Bank
in Hong Kong, set up a new Corporate
Treasury function that steers the Bank’s
balance sheet. Today, I lead a group of close
to 500 finance professionals globally. So
when others, or even yourself, tell you that
you cannot be an eagle, remember to tell
yourself, “why not?”
Wizard of Oz – Courage, Brain & Heart
Last story - the “Wizard of Oz”. The story of
courage, brain and heart. This is a timeless
classic that many of you may have read.
The story about Dorothy who wants to go
home, the Lion who wants courage, the
Scarecrow who wants a brain and the Tin
Man who wants a heart.
In a way, we are all Dorothy one way or
another, aren’t we? Looking for our home,
our destiny. And to find where we belong,
we need courage, to use our brain and
have our heart in the right place. Let me
elaborate.
Courage
Courage is having the conviction to stay on
a course of action and follow it to an end,
even when it means having to put up a
fight.
Peer pressure does not stop after you
graduate. In fact, you will likely face
tougher situations and be asked to make
difficult decisions. These will require a lot
of courage, both to say yes and to say no.
The recent collapse of Carillion, a major
outsourcer of government work in the
UK, brought back memories of the Enron
scandal, and the subsequent collapse of
Arthur Anderson. Several public reports
are again calling for increased scrutiny of
auditors, citing the lack of independence
and the declining standards of audit.
As some of you move on to become
accountants or auditors, you might be
caught in situations that will put you at
cross roads. Due to time constraints or
blurring client relationships, you might
be pressured to compromise – perhaps
beginning with instances of less thorough
compliance testing. But over time, they
may grow into something more severe —
so beware of the slippery slope.
What I painted is probably stretched,
but certainly plausible and definitely not
unique to the accounting profession.
When confronted by these challenges, you
will struggle, but it is important to do the
right thing, and stand firm. You may say it
is “easier said than done”. And I say “yes, it
is never easy”. In fact, doing the right thing
and not the easy thing requires courage.
Can you be a Lion without courage?
To read about the other two lessons from
the Wizard of Oz, go to page 25 of Teller
Online.
September 2018
TELLER 19