Congratulations to Team Eyerust (comprising Accountancy students Ng Si Jia, Luo Xindi, Nester Seow and Michael Wongsosaputro) for emerging 1^st Runner Up at the Deloitte Southeast Asia (SEA) Tax Challenge 2017 held on 24 February 2017. Team Eyerust, were champions of the SMU Tax Challenge 2016, which qualified them to represent Singapore in this competition. Seet Ann Qi, also an Accountancy student, participated in the Individual Category received the Merit Award.

The Deloitte SEA Tax Challenge 2017 saw undergraduates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand coming together to compete at the Deloitte University Asia Pacific campus in Singapore after winning their place to represent their universities after months of intense nationwide competitions. The Challenge is intended to support students in their learning and development, and to raise awareness of the tax profession in the region. This year, the competition saw over 2,500 students from across the four countries.

Participants competed in two categories - individual and team – where they were given the chance to showcase their tax knowledge, particularly on the hot topic of Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) and tax laws in their respective countries. The participants were also judged on their presentation skills. The students from Indonesia proved to be strong competitors and emerged champion in both the individual and team categories. Nonetheless, SMU students did Singapore proud and found the experience to be an enriching one.

Said Xindi, “I feel extremely honoured to represent SMU and Singapore in this regional competition. While the preparation was intense and stressful, I am glad I had my team members with me as we motivated each other. The key takeaway is that I developed a deeper understanding of the BEPS issues and other technical knowledge. Not only did the competition hone my technical skills, it also taught me important presentation skills. Watching the partners speak really motivated me to continue practising to become a better speaker. I believe that it is definitely a good way to connect students and tax practitioners.”

For Michael Wongsosaputro, the experience was also a rewarding one as he felt that, “not only was it an avenue to hone my tax knowledge, the time spent with the other teams enabled all of us to learn a lot from one another. Through this experience, we have hopefully become better tax practitioners, better presenters and better professionals.”

In total, almost USD5,000 worth of prizes were presented at the Deloitte SEA Challenge 2017, including Merit Awards and Special Mentions, to encourage the participants to continue to pursue their interest and passion in the practice of tax.

Results of the Deloitte Southeast Asia Tax Challenge 2017

Visit Deloitte’s facebook for more photos.

[Featured Photo: Mr Low Hwee Chua (extreme left), Regional Managing Partner for Tax at Deloitte Southeast Asia and Team Eyerust – Accountancy students (from left) Stanley Luo Xindi, Michael Wongsosaputro, Nestor Seow and Ng Si Jia at the Deloitte Southeast Asia Tax Challenge 2017]