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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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CIMA's youngest member: Guy who's got what it takes by Rehana Amidon
The absence of a big picture makes life a long and arduous struggle for many of us. However, for Jayamin Pelpola, taking the road to success was easy as ABC. Currently 20, a merchandiser at Shadowline Private Limited, and a lecturer for CIMA students at ABS, he chose CIMA as his path to success and became the youngest Associate member of CIMA in the world. He chose CIMA as his path to success, because he wanted a career that would help him discover the real world. "What I identify in CIMA is applicable to the real world rather than being political and narrow-focused. It is much more broader and is more useful to the practical world", he says adding, "Rather than management accounting qualification in itself, CIMA is also useful for a prospective employee as it provides good managerial insights for an organisation". He says that the update of syllabuses provided for the members is continuously changing and improving, offering a wider perspective to students. A bright student of Nalanda College, Jayamin, standing 5'8" tall, fair, gangly, attentive and easygoing, made his first move in grade 8 when he shifted to Gateway International opting for a faster route to complete his high school education. He completed his London O/levels and A/levels in two years and shortly after, enroled at the Academy of Business Private Limited (ABS) for CIMA. He completed four stages of the CIMA in 1999, winning the Sri Lanka Prize for overall Stage I. Later he qualified as an Associate Charted Management Accountant (ACMA) with 3 years of relevant practical experience, which he says is "a justification of experience". He describes his work in the merchandising field where he gets plenty of international exposure is an interesting profession. "As a merchandiser, you are required to come up with your own strategies for the selected accounts", he says explaining. "Merchandising is about trust in the leader of the organization". The biggest surprise about his career he says,"was finding it to be not as difficult as he originally thought it would be". He says that discipline, commitment, and achievement are the main characteristics that is necessary to becoming a merchandiser. His professional concern apart, Jayamin enjoys playing tennis, cricket, and rugby with his friends and counts Eminem as his favourite musician. Commenting on friendship, he says the ability to understand one another and make contributions to one another's life is very important. "If a couple of people team up much can be achieved, faster, in a better way", he says. Jayamin's parents, whom he visits during weekends, know the value of their son's hard work, even though they are sometimes concerned about his welfare especially when he doesn't go to visit them. "They describe me as a person who won't take care of himself", he laughs. "They see me as a person who wants life and values what he's doing". What Jayamin looks for in a person is honesty, intrigue and commitment to achieve what is essential for life. Another reason for his success is his list of most admired people, including Tiger Woods, Bill Gates and Dian Gomez, CEO of Slimline Cluster. All these people had inspired him in a way that gave him the power and confidence to take each step through life. Jayamin doesn't have any regrets as to where he is today. He says that if he has chosen the other path, he would still be doing CIMA exams. Thanks to his family, Mr. R.I.T Alles, principal of Gateway International, Faris Ismail, CEO of ABS, and Dilan Guneratne of MAS Cooperatives, he is a promising young leader for the business world of today. As for the future of this young man, he plans to study Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and make positive changes to his life. |
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