INTHEBLACK November 2023 - Magazine - Page 40
MEMBER PROFILE
AT A GLANCE
Malaysian brothers Muhammad
Firas Hamzah CPA and
Muhammad Haaziq
Hamzah CPA have followed
a similar education path.
Despite many early
similarities, their careers
have since diverged into
different subject areas
and countries.
Firas is now executing share
trades at RHB Bank in Kuala
Lumpur, while Haaziq has moved
overseas to work in the auditing
team at EY in Singapore.
NEXT GEN
CAREER
DIRECTIONS
Brothers Muhammad Firas Hamzah CPA and
Muhammad Haaziq Hamzah CPA pinpoint the defining
moments that have set them on different career paths.
Words Lachlan Colquhoun
Photography Vignes Balasingham
When Muhammad Firas Hamzah CPA was studying at the Malaysian
campus of Melbourne’s Monash University, he was initially on a “pure
science” path. When he opted to add a basic accounting unit to his
courseload, it changed everything.
“It was a pivotal moment,” says Firas, a share trading officer at RHB
Banking Group in Malaysia. “It led to me studying in Melbourne for one
semester, which I really enjoyed.
“From there, I turned to the accounting career, and that led me to the
CPA qualification.”
In contrast, Muhammad Haaziq Hamzah CPA, Firas’s younger
brother, always had accounting on his career radar. As a secondary
student, he recognised that accountants would always be in demand.
“I saw that every company had at least one accountant, and these were
respected professional roles,” says Haaziq, who has left Malaysia for a role
as an auditor and assistant manager at EY in Singapore.
Haaziq also considered studying science, but decided that accounting
would be the better career path. “I took the business side during my
foundation years, and that took me into accounting,” he says.
Like Firas, Haaziq studied at an Australian university – in his case, the
University of New South Wales – and the CPA qualification came next.
40 INTHEBLACK November 2023
