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Seizing the Opportunity Wholeheartedly 把握机会，全心付出 Edward Liang’s commitment to his job has seen him reaching new heights in his 15-year career at POPULAR. 加入马来西亚大众超过15年的龙仕富，本着全力以赴的信念， 一次次攀登职涯新高峰。 Just after 7am every morning, Edward Liang She Foo steps into the office and makes himself a cup of coffee, ready to start another busy day. At this early hour, it is usually just him and the tea lady in the office. To the Popular Malaysia’s Operations Manager, the office has become his second home when he was still an accountant in the Finance Department. Besides reaching the office earlier than everyone else, Edward is fully focussed on his work during working hours. Shortly after joining Popular Malaysia in 2004, he was assigned to help out at the clearance book fair at Summit USJ. Feeling unsettled, Edward wondered why an accountant had to do manual work instead of working in the office. He quickly realised that he should persevere with the mindset of learning on the job. To Edward, all staff in the Operations Department and in POPULAR should strive to do their best. He hopes that the younger staff will seize the opportunities in POPULAR, as youthful zest is the ideal capital from which to best build their careers. Edward’s experience is the best example. Taking on New Challenges After his stint at the book fair, Edward returned to his office to find that his supervisor had left. He soon met his second mentor – Popular Malaysia’s Finance Director, Choy Yee San. “Instead of just assigning tasks to us, she would listen to our plans,” Edward reveals. Calling Choy his role model, her approach allowed Edward to learn more and progress further in his career as he sees new challenges as learning opportunities. In fact, his eagerness to learn saw him visiting various stores to learn about their operations, and his diligence laid a strong foundation for him when he was promoted to a regional manager in the Operations Department in 2010. In 2013, Edward was promoted to his current position as Operations Manager. Although he has had to adapt to new responsibilities, Edward believed that the nature of his work has remained the same. “The key lies in your choice,” he said. “When you have made your choice, you will have 100 reasons to keep going.” It was this positive attitude that had helped Edward make a smooth transition from the Finance Department to the Operations Department. Learning from Mistakes Edward was soon posted to East Malaysia. Although all his friends and relatives were based in Kuala Lumpur, he did not hesitate in accepting his new posting. He set a goal of having the locals run the POPULAR stores in East Malaysia. “Letting the locals handle POPULAR’s East Malaysian operations was a win-win situation for everyone, as we could harness their local knowledge and the headquarters no longer needed to send someone over,” Edward explained. He returned to the headquarters in triumph, having achieved his objective. Though Edward has brought his meticulous approach as an accountant to the Operations Department, working in the latter has also brightened his personality. “My current position requires that I interact with people from various departments and fields, andthisindirectlyinfluencesme,”hesaid.What has not changed is Edward’s management philosophy, as he believes that opportunities will come to those who do their best at work. To him, nothing is set in stone. Edward’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. His dedication to his job has led to more opportunities and consequently, more promotions. He revealed that though he has blundered at work before, he realised that one of the most valuable things is to learn from his mistakes. Edward attributed this wisdom to Ms Lim Lee Ngoh, Popular Malaysia’s Executive Director, as “she gave us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and to never repeat them”. A New Future with Technology Many people have asked Edward why he has chosen to stay in POPULAR for over 15 years. He has a simple answer: “Because what awaits me every day at work is new tasks and new challenges!” When asked for his wishes for POPULAR, Edward says that he hopes that technology can help to streamline menial tasks 32 - popularnews 133 By Ong Hooi Hoon (Malaysia) 文:王慧芬(马来西亚)