115 Future Accountants Step into the Boardroom for Sunway TES EDGE Sustainability Challenge

As sustainability continues to reshape corporate strategy, reporting and investment decisions, 115 ACCA and ICAEW students were placed in the role of boardroom advisers at Sunway TES EDGE’s [Empower] The Sustainability Change Leader: Boardroom Sustainability Challenge, held on 23 September 2026.

The immersive industry-led challenge brought together students across 23 teams, requiring them to apply accounting, finance and business knowledge to a real-world sustainability scenario. Working under time pressure, students analysed business risks, prioritised sustainability-related issues and presented boardroom-style recommendations to experienced industry professionals.

The event opened with remarks by Ms. Low Sze Jein, Senior Lecturer and Founding Leader of Sunway TES EDGE, followed by a welcoming address from Professor Teo Ee Sing, Managing Director of Sunway College. Students then gained industry insights through a keynote address by Ms. Farhana Jabir, Director, Sustainability and Climate Change, PwC Malaysia, who also moderated the industry panel.

The panel featured sustainability and assurance professionals from leading firms, including BDO Malaysia, Deloitte Malaysia and KPMG in Malaysia, who shared how sustainability is increasingly shaping corporate strategy, risk management, reporting and assurance in professional practice.

To strengthen students’ technical grounding before the challenge, Mr. Tan Khoon Yeow, Partner, Learning & Professional Development, BDO Malaysia, delivered a technical briefing on ISSB S1 and S2. The session helped students understand key sustainability disclosure concepts and consider how climate and sustainability-related risks could be assessed, classified and communicated in a business context. This was followed by the challenge briefing led by Ms. Low Sze Jein and Ms. Xynna Pang, Senior Manager, Sustainability and Climate Change, PwC Malaysia.

A key feature of the programme was the business case built around DaunTea Group Berhad, a fictional Malaysian premium tea beverage group preparing for an initial public offering within three years. Instead of producing a conventional sustainability report, students were placed in the role of advisers to the company’s board. Their task was to identify and prioritise three sustainability-related risks and opportunities, assess their business implications, and connect these issues to financial performance and reporting considerations.

The case pushed students to recognise that sustainability is not only an environmental matter. It affects operations, costs, financing, reputation, regulatory compliance, risk management and financial statements — the very areas future accountants and business professionals must be prepared to navigate.

Following the briefing, teams had approximately two hours to analyse the case and prepare their recommendations. Each team then delivered an eight-minute boardroom pitch, followed by a question-and-answer session with judges from the professional firms. The format required students to communicate complex analysis clearly, defend their thinking, and demonstrate commercial judgement under pressure.

The judging panel included representatives from BDO Malaysia, Deloitte Malaysia, KPMG in Malaysia and PwC Malaysia, who assessed teams on their identification and prioritisation of sustainability-related risks and opportunities, application of ISSB S1 and S2 concepts, linkage to business and financial impact, and quality of boardroom communication.

At the end of the challenge, four teams were recognised as the highest-performing teams within their respective pitching tracks. Each winning team demonstrated different strengths, from materiality assessment and ISSB classification to actionable recommendations, financial statement linkage, and confident boardroom delivery. More importantly, the challenge reflected the heart of Sunway TES EDGE — developing students beyond technical knowledge and preparing them to think, speak and lead like future professionals.

Through EDGE, students are not only exposed to industry expectations; they are placed inside experiences that require them to apply judgement, build confidence, collaborate with others and communicate with impact. The Boardroom Sustainability Challenge brought this mission to life by moving students from the classroom into a simulated professional environment where their ideas had to be clear, commercially relevant and defensible.

As sustainability becomes increasingly central to business, finance and reporting, future accountants must be able to do more than understand standards. They must be able to connect technical knowledge with business realities, ask better questions, advise decision-makers and contribute meaningfully to the organisations they serve.

This is where Sunway TES EDGE makes the difference.

By integrating industry exposure, technical application and professional confidence, EDGE equips students to become more than exam-ready graduates. It prepares them to become future-ready professionals — ready for the boardroom, ready for industry and ready to lead with purpose in a changing world.