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Essay AAS Supporting Statements

The document discusses the author's reasons for pursuing a master's degree in Professional Accounting and Business Law at Monash University or the University of Adelaide. The author currently works in the Treasury department of their government, where they have observed issues like a lack of oversight of overseas travel expenses and reliance on the state budget. Through their studies, the author aims to introduce reforms like a credit line payment system and treasury bills to address these problems. After graduation, the author wants to contribute further to their career in the Treasury and help rural development initiatives before potentially pursuing a career in academia. They provide an example of previously leading reforms at a boarding school to help marginalized students.

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Martinho Savio Gonzaga Sarmento
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1K views2 pages

Essay AAS Supporting Statements

The document discusses the author's reasons for pursuing a master's degree in Professional Accounting and Business Law at Monash University or the University of Adelaide. The author currently works in the Treasury department of their government, where they have observed issues like a lack of oversight of overseas travel expenses and reliance on the state budget. Through their studies, the author aims to introduce reforms like a credit line payment system and treasury bills to address these problems. After graduation, the author wants to contribute further to their career in the Treasury and help rural development initiatives before potentially pursuing a career in academia. They provide an example of previously leading reforms at a boarding school to help marginalized students.

Uploaded by

Martinho Savio Gonzaga Sarmento
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1) Why did you choose your proposed course and institution*?

One of my daily responsibilities at the Treasury is to analyze documents and disbursement


requests from the Major Project Secretariat (MPS) for infrastructure projects and monitoring all the
Treasury Payment activities.
During working at Treasury, I observed three issues related to the Treasury Operation that
need to improve. One of the issues is the lack of control over the overseas travel arrangement. The
overseas travel expense increases every year as several institutions incorporate unnecessary costs
within it, and the Treasury has no proper mechanism to control it. The second issue is that the
Treasury Payment Activity depends exclusively on the state budget. When the state budget does not
yet come into force at the beginning of the year, or there is an emergency state, the payment becomes
ineffective because it does not have any alternative funding. The third issue is the poor quality of the
financial Report. Government Accounting is not accurate enough as the Treasury does not have a
quality control system and audit system ready to guarantee reliable information.
Given all these issues, I want to introduce a Credit – Line Payment to solve the misuse of the
overseas travel arrangement, Treasury Bill for short-term financing alternative, and establish a proper
audit system for reporting quality. However, these missions need an accountant qualified in financial
and management accounting, financial analysis, auditing and assurance, risk management, and
business law. So, I decided to undertake a master in Professional Accounting and Business Law to
equip me with advanced skills and knowledge of accounting, finance, auditing, and business law.
My first institutional choice is Monash University because of its excellence in teaching and
qualities, and it offers a master study in Professional Accounting and Business Law. The other option
is the University of Adelaide, as it also offers a master degree in Professional Accounting with a
concentrate on business law.

2) How will the proposed study contribute to your career*?

My current responsibilities at Treasury are to analyze documents and disbursement requests


for the Infrastructure project financed with Loans before making the payments and monitor and
monitor all payment requests for the salary, goods and services, public transfer, minor capital and
capital development from ministries.
After graduating, I want to reintegrate with the Treasury and improve its operations. As I have
mentioned before, I want to introduce a Credit-Line of Payment to help Treasury and other
government agencies to execute the budget, especially for overseas travel expenses, efficiently. I also
want to work as the Treasury’s Representative on the working group with the Central Bank to
introduce Treasury Bonds into the domestic market to raise short-term financing. I want to make
another contribution by review the existing internal control system for a financial report and establish
a proper audit system to assess the quality and accuracy of the financial information, therefore,
enhancing government accounting.
After contributing to the Treasury operation, I want to pursue my career in other relevant
government agencies to support rural development in Timor Leste. I want to support small business
in rural areas including cultural and craft products, employment for women and people with
disabilities, labour for young men and women, and cooperative sector development in remote areas. I
want to work with the commercial banks and the relevant ministries to establish a soft-loan scheme to
support small-to-medium enterprises that are difficult to access capital directly from the commercial
banks.
I want to spend my long-term career in academia and lecture accounting and finance at Timor
Leste universities. So, postmaster, I hope to pursue my Doctoral Studies in Accounting. Alongside my
teaching, I also want to work with other professional accountants to establish a Professional
Accounting Body to qualify Timorese accounting students and maintain high accounting standards as
they embark on their professional careers.

3) How have you contributed to solving a challenge and to implementing change or


reform? (Be specific and include: what aspect/s of your leadership knowledge, skills and
practice you consider to be well established and effective; which people or organisations
you worked with to solve the problem; and what creative methods were used.

In 2009, I joined a religious Order - Salesians of Don Bosco. Our mission is to help and
educate poor and marginalized young people, irrespective of religions. In 2014, I was posted by the
superiors to teach at one Salesian School (St. Anthony Secondary School) in Baucau (A municipality
on the east side of Timor Leste) as well as to manage a newly established boarding house for students
who faced financial difficulty to further their studies, and students came from locations too far to
travel daily. In the beginning, we had many problems. Those students staying at the boarding house
had different characters, as they were from diverse villages, family backgrounds and at different ages.
It was too small to accommodate the students, and we only had a small dormitory for sleeping. We
did not have space for studying and a library for storing reading resources. The fund that we received
from the Order could only meet food and medical expenses. The first thing I did to overcome these
difficulties was to set up internal rules and regulations to guarantee everything was structured and
well organized at the boarding house from first thing in the morning until night. I directed the students
to clean up the storehouse for use as a study room and library. To have sufficient and comfortable
sleeping accommodation, I requested my superiors to provide us with bunk beds and the resulting
extra space was used for wardrobes. In this way, we managed to accommodate many poor students
eager to further their studies. After nine months of leading the boarding house, I left the Order for my
further studies in Australia. In 2018, when I returned from Australia, I visited the boarding house, and
I was pleased to see it fully functioning. Also, I was happy to hear that four of my former students had
got scholarships from the Government to study overseas. Until now, the boarding house still
accommodates poor students and becomes a place to educate them to be good Christians and honest
citizens.

4) Please: - a) give up to three practical examples of how you intend to use the knowledge,
skills and connections you will gain from your scholarship. Possible tasks can be
personal and/or professional; and 
b) list any possible constraints you think may prevent you from achieving these tasks. *:

First of All, I want to develop the Credit-Line Payments and introduce The Treasury Bonds
and Bills to improve the Treasury Payment System. The Credit – Line Payments will be a mechanism
to help the Treasury to control the Overseas Travel arrangement. The Treasury Bonds and Bills are
high liquidity financial instruments that can help the Treasury accessing short-term financing when
the government needs immediate funds to respond to public needs or emergencies. I want to be a
Treasury’s representative on a working group with the Central Bank of Timor Leste to introduces
these projects.
Secondly, I want to seek job opportunities in other government institutions like the Ministry
of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry to support the development of
the non-petroleum sectors like rural development, Agriculture, and Tourism. I want to support
entrepreneurship and employment for young men and women and people with disabilities in remotes
areas. I want to work with the relevant institution and the commercial banks to establish a soft-loan
scheme for small-medium business, cultural and craft products and Cooperative sector development. I
also want to work with the relevant institutions to re-assess business and labour law to ensure fairness
and transparency.
Thirdly, I would like to contribute to the development of education in Timor Leste by
lecturing in accounting and finance at Timor Leste Universities.
Many possible constraints would prevent me from achieving my aims. These can be political
decisions, old-fashioned law, and Public opinion. Sometimes political decision in my institution
overrides technical consideration. I want to help it providing data and convincing arguments to ensure
political decision match the technical advice. Rules and regulations could prevent change. I want to
alter them to meet the needs of the country. Sometimes the public opinion is opposed to change. I can
help in changing their attitude to reform and changes.

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