Over the years, many people have joined KTP.

Many have left too.
Some stayed for a few months.
Some stayed for many years.

But if you ask me which manager I still miss today.

The answer is easy … SQ Chai.

I honestly thought…
She would spend her entire career in accountancy.
I was wrong.

When she first told me she is leaving the industry
I thought she was joking.

She wasn’t.
She had spent years building her career.

From Junior.
To Senior.
To Manager.

She became an ACCA member.
She became an MIA member.
She had everything many young accountants dream of.

Then one day.
She told me she wanted to start a completely different career.

Not audit mananger in another accounting firm.
Not accountant in commercial.

A completely different industry.
I won’t share what it is.
That is her story.

To be honest.
I couldn’t understand it initially

For weeks.
I kept asking myself.
“Why?”

Was it burnout?
Was it audit deadlines?
Was it the long hours?
Was it me?
Was it something I could have done differently?

My accountant brain kept looking for an answer.
Nothing balanced.

Eventually.
I realised.

Maybe I was asking the wrong question.
Instead of asking,
“Why would she leave accounting?”

Perhaps I should have asked,
“What kind of life makes her happy?”
Not everyone defines success the same way.

Today.

We still keep in touch.
Sometimes I send her a simple WhatsApp.
“Still alive and kicking 😜?”

Every reply tells me the same thing.
She sounds happy.
Genuinely happy
And that makes me happy too.

As her ex-employer,
I celebrate the people who had the courage to start over.

If someone spends years growing with us.
I bet she leave with gratitude.
Finds happiness in a completely different career.

And still smiles when we message each other years later.
I think.
We are both happy.

SQ Chai.
Thank you for everything you contributed to KTP.
I sincerely wish you all the happiness in your new journey.