TWO youths have embarked on a journey to increase the number of Bumiputera accountants in the market.

Airil Razali, 29 and Aimran Ridzuan, 21, through their Tymba Education centre, aim to provide a platform for Bumiputera youth to sit for professional accountancy programmes.

The two told The Malaysian Insight that the lack of awareness given to Bumiputera youth by their parents about accountancy was one of the reasons for the lack of interest in this field.

In addition, they said, Bumiputera youth also avoided taking the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) exams as they are perceived as difficult.

Tymba Education provides a pathway for ACCA students to pursue becoming a Chartered Accountant by aiding them in their examinations.

According to figures provided by Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Bumiputera accountants constitute only 8%, or fewer than 1,800, of accountants in the country.

“The issue arises from the lack of exposure given to Bumiputera youth. Despite the papers (ACCA) being around for a long time, parents may feel that only a diploma and degree are the way to become a professional.

“In addition, there has always been a stigma especially among Bumiputera that professional papers are difficult. So, students avoid taking it for fear of failing,” they said.

Airil, who is a professional chartered accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant in England and Wales (ICAEW), said Tymba started out in a café.

“I had just resigned from UiTM as a lecturer at that time and was helping out my ex-students by giving them additional revision classes. Together with Aimran, we decided to come up with Tymba,” he said.

“We came up with the idea to start Tymba in Starbucks Rimbayu. Things were moving so fast at that point in time, our small talk turned into action. In two hours, we discussed, planned and structured to kick off Tymba.

“The next day, posters were everywhere! That was how fast we started.

“Education has always been close to my heart. In fact, my mother and I have run our own tuition centre for the past 15 years. The only way to change a person’s life is via education,” Airil added.

He said despite the lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic, Tymba managed to switch to online learning quickly, which did not affect their lessons.

They were also quick to add that while Tymba was not a Bumiputera-only training centre, they believed it was important to address the lack of accountants among Bumiputera.

College plans

In the beginning, the two said it was difficult to convince students to join Tymba because of the notion that the teachers were new and inexperienced.

“People thought we were new, when actually the team behind Tymba was not new. The tutors are mostly chartered accountants themselves who came from the industry and have been teaching for quite some time.

“So it’s just a matter of time for us to show the market our results and passing rates,” they said.

“Every day is about improvement and small ripples to create a big wave.”

Within eight months, Tymba managed to obtain a Learning Partner status with ACCA, with more than 350 students and seven tutors.

Aimran, who is a student of ICAEW and an entrepreneur, said he believes that accountancy was the foundation to all businesses.

“The direction of a business always ties back to the decisions a person makes from his financial resources, even to decide where to invest the capital is also a financial decision. Thus, building this Tymba centre was the way to go for me,” he said.

He said with the emergence of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, it is important that accountants adopt technology in their scope of work.

“Creating a ‘gig learning’ environment that is far different from traditional colleges and universities’ approach, we believe that it is our duty towards the profession and the nation to be in line with the IR4.0.”

The founders managed Tymba with their own funds and currently run three centres. They are looking for methods to acquire college licences, which would strengthen their position in the industry.

Tymba has invested in a website, student portal and a mobile application. It also does marketing and branding to increase the number of students by highlighting the importance of accountancy to the economy.

“We wish to maintain our control as Tymba needs to be agile and able to adapt with all the changes in the industry swiftly,” they said.

Helping while educating

Tymba has two subsidiaries, which are TymBursary and TymBantu.

TymBursary is a bursary programme where qualified students with great potential have their fees subsidised. Meanwhile, Tymbantu is a civil group set up to distribute free laptops to high-needs students during the challenging conditional MCO period.

A total of 10 laptops were distributed in 2020.

On Tymba’s fees, the founders said it varies depending on each student’s level of education.

For O-level students, they are required to complete a Foundation in Arts first before they can proceed with the ACCA course which would cost around RM30,000.

For diploma and degree students, fees would cost between RM15,000 and RM25,000 subject to terms and conditions.

“We are building a resilient ecosystem to support the students from the first day they join Tymba until the last day of their life as a professional chartered accountant.”

Those interested may visit their website for more information. – January 17, 2021.