学弟及学妹们，

如果你们连以下的几行字都不认得，那你可有难了。其实，以华语交谈并不容易。毕竟我们在新大就读的四年里都很少以华文沟通。所谓不进则退，这意味着我们的（华语）语言能力渐渐地退步了。现在的我就花了一个多小时写了以上的那几个字，真是逊！

我在安永会计所任职的第一个星期就碰了钉子。刚毕业的我信心满满，以为可以在商场上大展拳脚。谁知道我的经理竟要我为她翻译一份从中国发送过来的报告。当时的我，心里虽有点犹豫，但是也一口答应了经理隔天一定把报告翻译给她。那晚可说是我 2006 年以来，最“难过”的一晚。为了这份报告，我动用了不少人力： Yee Hian, Rigan, Eddie, 等等。连我的阿嬷也出动了。幸亏我朋友们的华文程度还不赖，区区的五页报告也就一页一页地翻译出来了。

所谓经一事，长一智，经过这一次的经验，我也不敢再忽视华文的重要性，并下定决心开始阅读 “I - 周刊” （只是开个玩笑），联合早报和其他的华文文章。我们毕竟是“黄岩子孙”，黄皮肤的我们怎能连基本的华文都不懂呢？所以，我在这里就给你们出道难题 - 把以下二十个商业字母翻译成功，并在第一时间电邮正确 答案。首四位把所有商业字母准确地翻译的会计系同学将可各自获得一份小小的鼓励。

无法完全答对的学弟及学妹们也不要灰心，请你就把这个小小的考验当成你们从新学习华语的一个起点，让你对华文的兴趣死灰复燃。在我放下笔前，让我再给你们一个小的“贴示”∶会计课本里常看到的"Debit" ，可不要直接翻译成“代毕”哦。

祝大家在新的一年里身体健康，心想事成！

Dear SoA Juniors,

If you face difficulty in understanding the above short passage (and you took up Chinese as your second language), it is time for you to brush up your Mandarin. I must ashamedly admit that I have not been using Mandarin in any formal setting besides the occasional chit-chat sessions with my university mates. However, I recently discovered the importance of having a good grasp of the Chinese language in this current pro-China (business) market.

In my first week with Ernst & Young, I was tasked to translate a Chinese report for my manager's perusal. After skimming through the report, I had to enlist my friends' help to understand the tougher characters which I did not recognise or had forgotten. After much effort, I (or rather we) managed to translate the report and submit it in time. As such, I will like to remind all my SoA juniors that the Chinese language remains relevant, especially in these times.

Here, I will like to take this opportunity to present you a challenge: The first 4 SoA students to correctly translate the following series of English business terms into Chinese will be rewarded with a little prize. Email the completed entry in word document format to accountancy@smu.edu.sg. The purpose of this challenge is to make you realise the increasing importance of the Chinese language and take steps to prepare yourself for the working world.