INTHEBLACK November 2021 - Magazine - Page 76
MEMBER PROFILE
// G I V I N G B A C K
STORY KATIE LANGMORE
ALWAYS
PREPARED
IN TRUE SCOUTING SPIRIT, ALAN CHUNG FCPA
IS NO STRANGER TO FINDING SOLUTIONS TO
PROBLEMS AND BEING PREPARED. HE NOW
PASSES ON TREASURED LIFE LESSONS TO THE
NEXT GENERATION OF SCOUTS.
“O
nce a Scout, always a Scout” claimed the
founder of the world-famous Scouting
movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell – and
Alan Chung FCPA couldn’t agree more. “I joined when I
was 11 and here I am, still a passionate member 40 years
later,” says the head of indirect tax and transfer pricing
practices at Grant Thornton Malaysia.
“I know this sounds corny, but the Scouting spirit
means everything to me, and I believe it’s helped get
me to where I am today.”
For example, Chung says he lives by the first Scout
Law – a Scout’s honour is to be trusted – which means
pride and honour are well and truly baked into his
work ethic.
Secondly, he explains, “the Scout motto is ‘Be
Prepared’. I’m always prepared, and I am even known
to be over-prepared,” he laughs. “I have back-up plans
for my back-up plans.”
Chung feels that being taught to find solutions to
obstacles, often by being thrown in at the deep end and
being allowed to make mistakes, is perfect training for
adulthood and the workplace.
“I was once handed a whole chicken, head and feet
still attached, and asked to prepare it! I was only 12,
I had no idea what to do with a chicken.”
Chung joined Scouts through his school in the
town of Ipoh, nearly 200km north of Kuala Lumpur,
and attended weekly meets and numerous camps
throughout his high school years. In his final year of
school, he earned the highest Scouting honour that
can be achieved in Malaysia – the King’s Scout Award –
presented to him in a formal ceremony by the Regent
of the state of Perak.
When Chung moved to the US for a school exchange,
to Kuala Lumpur to attend university, and then to
Australia on another exchange, he continued his
involvement with the Scouts.
“Soon after I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, I was walking
past a high school and saw a Scout troop inside – and I
76 ITB November 2021
Above: Alan Chung FCPA (second from
right) at a Scouts training event.
Below: Chung instructs a group of Scouts
in constructing a tower structure.
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itched to be involved! I walked into the school, told them
I was a King Scout and asked how I could help,” recalls
Chung, laughing at his own audacity. “I ended up being
a Scout leader there for 15 years – first as Assistant Scout
Master, then Scout Master and later Senior Scout Master.”
Chung feels strongly about giving back and passing
on the leadership skills that he has been fortunate
enough to develop through his Scouting career.
While work and family life mean his day-to-day
involvement has slowed down, he is still involved with
the organisation, currently preparing the 100-year
celebrations for his old school troop (as he did 30 years
ago for its 70th, after discovering during a research
project that the school’s first troop dated back to 1921).
Chung and his fellow Scouts are hoping to bring
together the Scouting community from around the
country for a mass camp of activities and competitions.
“Sadly, the first planned celebration was postponed
due to COVID-19,” says Chung, but ever the Scout, it is
likely he won’t let a little blip like the pandemic get in
the way of his plans. “If a Scout hits a wall, they work
out a way to go under it, over it or around it,” he says.
The Scouting movement
was founded in the UK by
Lord Robert Baden-Powell
in 1907. It quickly spread
throughout the world, with
Scout groups starting in
Australia in 1908 and
Malaysia in 1909. By 1937,
more than 2.5 million
members from nearly
50 countries were affiliated
with the Scouts. Now
known as the World
Organization of the Scout
Movement, it is the largest
international Scouting
organisation in the world.
scout.org