USM PENANG, 4 December 2022 – Due to her work commitment abroad, she could not make it to the convocation previously held earlier this year. However, Madam Sasikala made it to the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) 60th convocation today.

Dr. Sasikala Sankaran Pillai managed to take some time off amidst her hectic schedule to attend her convocation ceremony at USM, accompanied by her mother and niece.

Graduating with a PhD in Governance and Risk, her studies would relate to the Competition Law under the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC).

Prior to pursuing her PhD studies at USM, Sasikala or affectionately known as ‘saashaa’ from her LinkedIn profile, graduated with a Bachelor of Accounting with Honours from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and later pursued her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at Drake University, Iowa, USA.

Her broad experience in the field of accounting and auditing, and with work stints locally and abroad, both in the public and private sectors have brought her to her current post.

When once she was with the Office of the Auditor General of Malaysia, she is now the Chief Internal Auditor at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Based in Jakarta, Indonesia, her work at the ASEAN Secretariat ensures that there would be checks and balances in the finance and internal controls of the operations of the Secretariat servicing the 10 member countries.

When asked what made her decide to further pursue her studies, she said, “The thing that inspires me to continue my education up to this level is to fulfil the promise I made to my late father, Staff Sergeant Sankaran Rajagopal Pillai, which is to follow his dreams, to be where I stand today, and not to forgetting my mother, teachers and all my lecturers and supervisors at the USM Graduate School of Business (GSB) for their support and dedication as well.”

USM Registrar, Dato’ Dr. Musa Ali who is also the Chairperson of the USM Convocation Working Committee met and congratulated Dr. Sasikala at the Convocation, Second Session today.

Another graduand and alumni that the university can truly be proud of, USM wishes her all the best in her future undertakings.

A total of 394 graduands received their degrees, presented by USM Pro-Chancellor, Tan Sri Datuk Mustafa Mansur who chaired the Second Session of the Convocation.

USM 60th Convocation is currently being held, beginning 3-14 December 2022.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin