Alumni Takeover with Ramana Thirumoorthy (Class of 2004)

Which year did you join KTJ, and when did you graduate from KTJ? 

I joined in January 1998, and graduated in 2004. 

Which house were you in? 

Naquiyuddin House. 

What do you remember most about KTJ? 

Learning new things all the time. 

Please tell us about your educational journey since KTJ. 

I lived the cliche that "you never really stop learning". Since KTJ, I graduated from the University of Nottingham in the UK. After that, I went on to become a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Advisor in England, moved to Sydney, completed a postgraduate Diploma at the University of Sydney, and then became a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor in Australia. 

I have also been involved in delivering education - teaching, marking professional exam papers and coaching younger accountants. 

If you could go back and redo your experience at KTJ, what would you change and why? 

At the risk of sounding cheesy... I wouldn't change anything. Although there were difficult moments, I had a really good time at KTJ overall.  

What do you do now for work?

I work as an international corporate tax advisor at Grant Thornton in Sydney, Australia. 

What did you learn from the time you were in KTJ that is most applicable to your current position? 

Never let your emotions get in the way of logic, kindness and humility. Many bad decisions, behaviours and management styles arise from people losing control of their emotions. 

Who should we feature next in our KTJ Community? 

I nominate Oh Teik Ian, one of my best friends and a very interesting and accomplished character. He was one of only six of the U6 Class of 2004 that started on the first day of Form 1. He is also a Star Wars encyclopedia on legs, which was very useful for answering obscure Star Wars questions in Mr Anthony Finch's annual General Knowledge quiz.  Alternatively, you could feature Law Bik Li, a friend's younger brother and he doesn't know this is coming. 😋