I am delighted reading the valued feedback from CPA Suppiah Subramaniam, former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Executive Vice President Group Finance, who upon retirement from MAS was hired as the Chief Financial Officer of GMR (India) joint venture for Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) project in Hyderabad Airport, commented on my story “Need to bring back the art and craft of a more engaging style of management development to build stronger organizations” published by newswav.com dated Tuesday, 20 October 2026. Permit me to quote him that “ In this context, on the lifelong learning, professional organizations realized the importance of it and introduced the CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, conducting regular programs for members to attend and keep abreast with business changes from a practical standpoint of managing organizations. This became essential as it was obvious that text books cannot cover the real situation as we move on.”
I can still remember during my tenure with MAS Academy, EVP Suppiah explained that “For accountant or engineer, CPE is the formal, structured training that licensed professionals must complete to maintain their legal credentials and practice rights. It serves as a regulatory check to ensure your technical knowledge stays up to date with changing laws, technologies, and industry standards.”
For added value, I emphasized that for practicing managers, CPD is the ongoing, intentional process of tracking, documenting, and improving our skills, knowledge, and experience throughout our career, beyond our initial qualifications. Lifelong learning is a continuous habit rather than a one-time event or single degree. It includes structured training (workshops, courses, webinars) as well as self-directed learning (reading journals, mentoring, work shadowing, reflective practice). All regulated industries require a specific number of CPD points or hours each year to renew memberships.
The future of CPE and CPD is shifting from a standard checklist of hours to continuous, output-focused learning driven by technology. Based on my own experience in management development, I found the rigid division between mandatory education (CPE) and career tracking (CPD) is blurring as regulatory boards and employers focus on actual skill application in proven business solutions.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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