I am delighted to be here this morning to officiate the launching of the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme – Syllabus Enhancement which will be implemented for the next 5 batches until batch 10. Today marks a milestone for FSTEP as the programme has delivered more than 680 graduates to the industry and is now poised to deliver another 500 graduates under an enhanced syllabus.

The development of human capital in the financial services industry is core in promoting a well-functioning and stable financial sector. Human capital development is critical in nation building as a whole. At Bank Negara Malaysia, for many years, we have embarked on strategies to strengthen human capital development in the financial services sector. Various institutional platforms were established such as INCEIF, the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance; ICLIF, the International Centre for Leadership in Finance; AIF, the Asian Institute of Finance; and of course, FSTEP, which is entrusted with equipping talents with the right skills and knowledge for their smooth transition into the financial services industry in Malaysia.

It is such initiatives that would put the necessary foundation to promote Malaysia as a centre of learning for financial services this region. Attracting, retaining and nurturing talent of our brightest mind would form the basis for our country’s transition to being a high income growth economy. It is also the groundwork that we need to built and strengthen so that our financial services remain competitive and innovative.

With the support from the industry players, FSTEP can serve as a bridge that connects the needs of the financial services industry with the talents produced by institutions of higher learning. But the industry must be forward looking in its approach. FSTEPS was designed and intended to develop the best graduates that we can recruit. Properly trained and exposed, they could form the pool of future leaders and senior management for the financial services industry. FSTEP was not envisaged to produce technicians and mechanics. Neither was FSTEP created to duplicate the training programs of financial institution. FSTEPS comprehensive one-year programme while emphasizing the important facets of technical knowledge also exposed trainees to personal development and on the job internship. FSTEP was intended to produce graduates that can be entrusted with positions of responsibility in the industry over the long term. This was the idea behind the formation of FSTEP and we need to bear this in mind when devising the syllabus and enhancement in the future.

The Quality Assurance Committee was created based on the thinking that a dynamic and relevant programmes requires continuous and timely revision. The QAC that had developed the new syllabus incorporated valuable inputs from the industry. The new syllabus was approved, by the FSTEP Steering Committee on June 28, 2010. Under the revised syllabus, the programme design and delivery will be more balanced between classroom-lectures and experiential learning in the form of case studies, role plays and simulations. This methodology is better suited for adult learning and shift somewhat the responsibility of learning to the trainees.

With this in mind, the content and details of the programme will be regularly updated and align with the progressive development of the financial industry. It will keep participants abreast with market needs in this age of advance technology and knowledge. As the financial services industry matures and the lines between businesses become even more blur, the skills and talents needed to navigate the industry becomes even more diverse and demanding. The change in syllabus and other enhancements will differentiate FSTEP from other training programmes offered by the financial institutions and training institutes. So I don’t expect FSTEP syllabus to converge with the training programmes offered by individual financial institution.

In order to ensure FSTEP secures a constant flow of quality graduates from both local and foreign institutes of higher learning to its training programme, initiatives have been mooted by FSTEP to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all public universities and a few reputable private universities in Malaysia to instill the way for greater cooperation and collaboration in matters of mutual interest and benefit. In particular, FSTEP will offer scholarships to eligible top graduates from various universities to participate in its one-year fast-track training programme.

Thank you.

SPEECH ON "FSTEP SYLLABUS ENCHANCEMENT"

By : Head of FSTEP Mr. Lee Khee Joo, Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme
Date : 20 July 2010
Time : 9.45 am
Venue : Lanai Kijang of Bank Negara Malaysia

YBhg. Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim, Members of FSTEP Management Committee, Members of FSTEP Quality Assurance Committee, distinguished guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen.

Selamat Sejahtera and a very good morning to all of you. Thank you for making yourselves available the time to be with us in this special event: FSTEP Syllabus Enhancement at Lanai Kijang. As you are aware, FSTEP started its first batch of training in December 2007 and to-date it has completed 4 batches of training with more than 680 industry-ready graduates. We are currently conducted the fifth batch of 101 participants at this moment. In this process, we have learned many useful lessons as well as the sweet/bitter experiences. Looking back, like everything else, we reckon that we cannot remain static. Instead, we must learn from the past in order to move forward. That explains the need on the formation of the new syllabus for Batch 6 and beyond.

The last Steering Committee Meeting was a memorable event for FSTEP as the new syllabus was approved on 28.6.2010. Additionally, it was chaired by Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim as Dato’ Mohd Razif was indisposed. On behalf of FSTEP, I wish to thank Dato’ Mohd Razif as well as Dato’ Muhammad for their unfailing contributions and support towards FSTEP. In this connection, perhaps it is not late to congratulate Dato’ Muhammad for his recent promotion to become the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia. In spite of his busy schedule, we are also grateful for Dato’ Muhammad’s presence to grace this occasion.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are here today to celebrate the result of joint efforts and initiatives taken by many parties. Just to mention a few, members of FSTEP Steering Committee, QAC Committee and Management Committee, Bank Negara Malaysia and all personnel and parties within the financial services industry have contributed positively for formulating this industry-relevant syllabus. Moving forward, our main focus is to keep the training programme aligns to the needs of the industry. To all of you who have contributed in one way or another to this endeavour in shaping the new syllabus, I wish to say a hearty “Thank You”.

Notwithstanding the above, I believe we have a long journey to go in implementing what has been approved to make it operationally effective. The big picture on the horizon is to equip the future participants with necessary skills and quality, as desired and required by the employers. Towards this end, we hope the industry practitioners can continue to be our “partners” in the administration of the training programme by becoming its facilitators. This is because besides the outstanding participants, the sophisticated syllabus, we also require quality facilitators. Working together, the FSTEP training programme which is a brainchild of Tan Sri Dr Governor, can be elevated to achieve many milestones in future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are very thankful for the support we received from the industry in sponsoring 62 of the 102 participants for the Batch 5 intake on 22.2.2010. Following that, we allowed the switching of the 40 FSTEP-sponsored to FI-sponsored participants. As at 1.7.2010, 96 of our 101 participants under Batch 5 have become financial-institutions-sponsored. In other words, only 5 of the FSTEP Batch 5 participants have no job. I said this to indicate a clear reflection of the continued support we receive from the industry. Truly, we are able to achieve this because of you.

In conclusion, I wish to thank our co-organisers, namely, ABM, PIAM, LIAM, AIBIM, MTA and MIBA for their cooperation and collaboration in making this event a success. Once again, thank you to all of you for taking the time to be here and our heartfelt appreciations to our guest of honour, Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim for gracing this occasion.

Thank you.

KEY NOTE ADDRESS ON "FSTEP SYLLABUS ENHANCEMENT"

SPEECH ON "FSTEP SYLLABUS ENCHANCEMENT"