Assalamualaikum and a very good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to be here again at the Asian Banking School to celebrate the graduation of the Batch 17 participants. When I was here last year, it was to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of FSTEP and I am pleased to note that it has continued to grow to even greater heights since then.

With a curriculum that has continued to evolve to the changing needs of the industry and graduates that are becoming increasingly work-ready and highly skilled, the demand for FSTEP by the financial institutions that it serves has also increased. This year marks the introduction of two intakes instead of one, which means that we will see the closing of the first batch of 2019 today; with the next one starting this September.

During their time here, the Batch 17 participants have been kept very busy covering a lot of ground in the areas of leadership, teamwork, technical knowledge, personal development, soft skills, business simulation and effective communication.

I have been told that the theme for this intake was ‘Digital Banking’. It is undeniably an area that has taken the world by storm and has transformed traditional banking structures; changing what is often described as conventional banking to convenience banking. Closer to home, the digital approach has become part and parcel of the business model and strategic intent for the financial services industry in Malaysia and it is timely then that this theme was chosen. Related topics were incorporated into the learning modules of the FSTEP participants which included Artificial Intelligence, FinTech, Python Programming and for the first time, a joint certification collaboration with the Multimedia University on Cybersecurity and Design Thinking.

And as always, the need for a strong foundation in Ethics and Compliance is key. The participants went through the Foundation in AML/CFT, Introduction to Ethics and another first for FSTEP, the Foundation in Regulatory Compliance. All important and all much-needed in today’s climate.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Batch 17 consists of 59 participants sponsored by 12 financial institutions. There are 44 participants from local universities and 15 from foreign universities with diverse disciplines from areas that include Banking and Finance, Business Management, Economics, and Science and Engineering.

After today’s graduation, the participants of Batch 17 will go on to do on-the-job-training at their respective sponsoring financial institutions. With the speed that our world is changing today, there is not much that we can take for granted but I hope that our graduates here will take to heart the lessons they have learnt these past 3 months and use their new-found knowledge wisely and effectively.

To the graduates, I ask only one thing of you and that is that you continue to learn and aspire to gain as much knowledge as you can throughout life. Today’s certification that you receive will hopefully not be your last and in a dynamic and ever-changing industry like the financial services, continually updating your skills and knowledge determines your growth which in turn, determines your level of success in living and working more productively. I wish you all the best and as you look forward to what the future holds, I hope that you do look back fondly to your time here and continue to maintain ties with us as part of the ever-growing FSTEP and ABS alumni network.

Of course, as Chairman of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers as well, it would be remis of me if I were not to encourage our graduates today to consider professional qualifications as part of their journey in learning and become Chartered Bankers.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the financial institutions for sponsoring the participants to join FSTEP. I trust that you too will reap the benefits from the knowledge that the graduates have gained through this programme.

My deepest thanks to Bank Negara Malaysia for their continuous support and my heartiest congratulations to the learning partners and faculty, and the team at the Asian Banking School for another successful batch of FSTEP graduates. It is a testament to the commitment that you have taken to innovate the approach of developing talent and I am confident that on an industry level, the graduates of FSTEP will continue to enrich the talent pipeline with entrants that are capable, highly skilled and effective.

The inspirational American Educator, Marva Collins once said, “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.” She was right, and it is my belief that learning will lead you there.

Thank you.