Building Impact and Empowering Tomorrow: SOA 25th and MPA 20th Anniversary
Since our inception in 2001, SMU School of Accountancy (SOA) has been committed to driving accounting thought leadership and innovation, as well as educating the next generation of accounting professionals, through strong collaboration with our industry partners. Our first postgraduate programme – the Master of Professional Accounting (MPA), was launched in 2006, to offer non-accounting graduates the opportunity to expand their professional knowledge in accounting or even switch careers into the accounting field. This year, SOA and MPA celebrate their 25th and 20th Anniversaries respectively and we commemorated both milestones at the SOA 25th and MPA 20th Joint Anniversary Dinner held in Pan Pacific Singapore on the evening of 15 May 2026.
Attended by close to 200 members of the SOA community, including our industry partners, pioneering and current faculty, as well as alumni and students from all programmes, the event was a valuable opportunity for old friends and acquaintances to re-connect while fostering new relationships with other members of the SOA community. Centred on our main theme “Building Impact and Empowering Tomorrow”, the event programme was designed to bring our guests on a journey through the past, to the present and to look forward towards the future of SOA.
The event opened with a high energy performance by SMU’s premier a-capella club SMU VOIX, setting the celebratory tone for the evening. Our Guest-of-Honour, President of SMU, Professor Lily Kong, delivered her keynote speech thereafter, where she reflected on how in a short 25 years, SOA has established its reputation as an institution delivering top quality accounting research and education despite its modest beginnings. Prof Kong also hailed the MPA for its bold vision as the first master’s programme to open the profession's doors to non-accounting graduates.
In his welcome address, Dean of School of Accountancy, Professor Zhang Liandong, touched on his personal journey from faculty to Deanship at SOA, and shared his observation of how the key contributor to SOA’s success was its close-knit and driven community. He emphasized the importance of a strong network consisting of industry partners, faculty, alumni and students in the age of AI and encouraged stakeholders to work even more closely together, to enable the School and the accounting sector to continue to thrive.
The guests were then taken back in time through a video montage showcasing SOA from 2001 until 2026, with many reminiscing as the montage displayed photos of pioneering faculty and of early Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) cohorts. Rounding off the trip down memory lane, was secondary degree BAcc graduate from the pioneering cohort and also the first SMU Valedictorian, Mr Lim Kong Wee, who gave a light-hearted speech on his experience as a first generation BAcc graduate. From facing incredulity on his decision to join an untested programme, to the challenges the pioneer BAcc cohort faced as SOA sought to identify its preferred approach in academic instruction, Mr Lim’s sharing drew a mix of laughter and admiration from the audience.
After a brief intermission, the spotlight turned from the undergraduate to the postgraduate programmes in SOA. A video featuring highlights from the SMU-Zhejiang University DBA team at the Gobi-to-West event took centrestage. Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious endurance events in the Greater China EMBA and DBA circuit, the annual event is designed to test resilience, leadership and collaboration under extreme desert conditions. As the first team from SMU to participate in this event, the SMU-ZJU DBA team led by the Dean of SOA, Professor Zhang, trekked 58km across the Gobi desert and clinched the Model ESG team award for their sustainability efforts during the trek.
The lens then focused on our first postgraduate programme – the MPA, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Associate Dean (Postgraduate Professional Programmes) of SOA, Professor Wang Jiwei, spoke on the transformation in the scale, the international mobility and the curriculum of the programme since its launch in 2006. He emphasized that the programme would continue to evolve as part of the School’s commitment to ensure the MPA remains aligned with the changing needs of the profession.
MPA alumnus, Mr Shawn Chen, went on to share how the MPA programme complemented his role and background as General Legal Counsel at Deloitte Singapore, as he is now able to communicate better with stakeholders on both legal and financial terms. Mr Chen also echoed Professor Wang on the importance of the programme remaining responsive to change in an AI-driven world. He closed his speech with the announcement of the School's plan to set up an endowment fund to fund an award which celebrates alumni excellence.
The MPA segment of the programme wrapped up with a heartwarming video montage highlighting the key milestones and achievements of the MPA programme and recognising the faculty, staff, alumni and students who made it possible.
As the evening drew to a close, the guests were invited to look in a crystal ball and imagine SOA in the future. Beginning with an AI-generated video which took a speculative view of what SOA hopes to achieve, Dean followed with his closing remarks that left a final powerful message – to achieve our vision, everyone present can play a collaborative role as human judgement and intervention is essential for success in the age of AI.
The 25th anniversary was a meaningful reminder that institutions are built not just by buildings, programmes or milestones, but by people — faculty, students, alumni, practitioners and partners — each contributing in their own way to a larger community.
– Richard Goh, BAcc Alumnus
I was honoured to be part of SMU School of Accountancy’s 25th anniversary celebration and the MPA programme’s 20th anniversary. The MPA programme genuinely changed the way I think about business, strategy, and decision-making. It gave me an entirely new lens through which to understand how organisations operate, grow, and create value.
– Lisa Tiyapunjanit, MPA Alumna