My Story
ABOUT DR VINA VIVA
Dr Vina Viva (Ervina Alfan) is a retired academic, writer, trainer, and reflective practitioner who spent 25 years in higher education. She holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and served in various academic and leadership roles throughout her career.
Her professional background spans accounting, governance, integrity, financial reporting, research, and higher education. Beyond academia, she is also an HRD Corp Certified Trainer, with a longstanding interest in personal growth, emotional well-being, and human development.
Over the years, she has explored various approaches that support self-awareness and personal reflection. She previously served as an AKRAB (Rakan Pembimbing Perkhidmatan Awam) member, and has completed practical training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), House-Tree-Person (HTP) Art Drawing Interpretation, and related reflective and helping approaches. She is also a member of the Mindfulness Love Therapy community.
Today, she writes under the pen name Dr Vina Viva, bringing together insights from both her professional experience and personal reflections. Her writings explore themes of self-understanding, emotional resilience, healing, kindness, purpose, and the quiet process of becoming more fully oneself.
The name Vina Viva carries a personal meaning. Vina comes from the last four letters of her given name, Ervina, while Viva is derived from the Latin expression meaning "long live." Together, the name reflects her heartfelt wish that her writing may continue to live on in the hearts of its readers, offering comfort, reflection, encouragement, and hope long after the words have been read.
Through projects such as Baby Saggia™, reflective guides, and contemplative writing, she hopes to create gentle spaces where readers can pause, reflect, and reconnect with their inner wisdom.
She believes that growth need not be rushed, and that sometimes the most meaningful discoveries begin with a moment of stillness.
The writings on this website are reflections of the philosophical thoughts that shape this quiet belief.
Governance, Integrity & Anti-Corruption Research Initiative
As Head Researcher, I led a multidisciplinary research collaboration between Universiti Malaya and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to examine governance, integrity, fraud, corruption, and cybersecurity risks within Malaysia's banking and financial sector. The project contributed evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening organisational resilience, ethical governance, and long-term strategic reform.
🔍 Research Focus
Corruption risk assessment within banking and financial institutions.
⚖️ Strategic Contribution
Long-term governance and integrity recommendations.
🏛️ National Presentation
Presented at the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Conference, September 2024.
Nurturing Future-Ready Graduates
2022–2024
Led during my years at the university, this project focused on creating learning experiences that extended beyond the classroom. Through soft skills development programmes, reflective learning activities, career preparation initiatives, and collaborations with industry practitioners, the project sought to support students and graduates in navigating their personal and professional journeys with greater confidence and purpose.
At its heart was a simple aspiration: to help nurture future-ready graduates who are not only knowledgeable, but also self-aware, adaptable, and prepared to contribute meaningfully to society.
🎓 Nurturing Future-Ready Graduates
Supporting students and graduates in developing the skills, confidence, and mindset needed to navigate an evolving professional landscape.
🌱 Advancing Learning Through Reflection
Creating opportunities for individuals to pause, reflect, gain clarity, and discover their strengths, purpose, and authentic voice.
📚 Research-Informed Learning
Bringing together research, education, and professional practice to create meaningful and relevant learning experiences.
Publication Support
Publication support is about helping knowledge find its audience. This recognition reflects years of experience in academic writing, research dissemination, and supporting others in sharing their work effectively.
📚 Experience Recognised
Obtaining the Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM) certification through Recognition of Prior Achievement (PPT) affirmed years of accumulated experience in academic publishing and research support.
✍️ Supporting Knowledge Sharing
Publication is not only about writing but also about helping ideas, research, and evidence reach wider audiences.
🌱 The Student Within Never Retires
This certification reflects a commitment to continuous learning and professional growth, even after retirement.
Professional Emceeing
Although I had experience moderating sessions, facilitating discussions, and emceeing programmes within the university environment, I chose to pursue the SKM certification through the Practical Assessment (Penilaian Amali) pathway. The experience broadened my understanding of professional communication and exposed me to a wider range of presentation and audience engagement techniques beyond my previous roles.
🎤 Communication Beyond the Classroom
Building upon years of experience in moderating discussions, facilitating events, and engaging diverse audiences, while exploring broader dimensions of professional communication.
✨ Expanding Existing Strengths
The practical assessment pathway provided an opportunity to refine communication skills and gain exposure to additional areas of audience engagement, presentation, and programme hosting.
🌱 The Student Within Never Retires
Pursuing professional certification through practical assessment was a reminder that learning continues long after formal career milestones have been achieved.
Train the Trainer
The Train the Trainer (TTT-NCS) certification marked an important milestone in my professional development journey. While teaching, mentoring, and facilitating learning had long been part of my academic career, this programme provided a structured framework for designing, delivering, and evaluating training in professional settings.
Beyond certification, the experience offered an opportunity to reflect on how adults learn, how learning experiences can be designed more intentionally, and how knowledge can be translated into meaningful outcomes for diverse audiences.
🎓 From Teaching to Training
Building upon years of experience in higher education while gaining structured knowledge in professional training design and delivery.
🧩 Designing Meaningful Learning Experiences
Exploring how training objectives, learner needs, activities, and assessment can be aligned to create effective learning outcomes.
🌱 The Student Within Never Retires
Undertaking the TTT-NCS certification was a reminder that even experienced educators continue learning, refining, and growing throughout their professional journey.
🌳 Kembara 3 Musim
A reflective memoir tracing the journey of pursuing a PhD across different seasons of life. Beyond the academic milestones, it is a story of resilience, self-discovery, friendships, challenges, and the unexpected lessons found along the way.
The memoir is being developed first in Malay as Kembara 3 Musim, with an English companion edition, Journey in 3 Seasons, planned to follow. Together, they aim to capture the same journey through two languages, reaching readers from different backgrounds while remaining faithful to the experiences that inspired them.
📓 Accounting Beyond Numbers
Accounting Beyond the Numbers explores accounting as more than a technical system of recording and reporting financial information. Instead, it presents accounting as a framework for understanding and interpreting economic reality within organisational, corporate, and market contexts.
Designed primarily for advanced undergraduate and early postgraduate students, the book brings together accounting theory, financial reporting, corporate governance, and interpretive analysis within a single narrative. Rather than focusing solely on how accounting is performed, it encourages readers to think critically about how financial information is produced, interpreted, and used to influence decisions, behaviours, and market perceptions.
At its heart, the book seeks to develop not only accounting knowledge, but also a deeper way of thinking about accounting—one that connects theory, practice, context, and interpretation in meaningful ways.
✉️ Warkah Tanpa Nama
Accepted for publication in a collaborative anthology by Astana Kreatif, Warkah Tanpa Nama features five short stories centred on the enduring power of letters and the truths they carry. At the heart of each story lies a simple yet profound question: What happens when a letter arrives revealing something that has long remained hidden?
Through the unfolding of secrets, memories, and unexpected revelations, the stories explore how a single piece of correspondence can challenge long-held assumptions, reshape relationships, and alter the course of a person's life. Themes of identity, family, acceptance, sacrifice, and the often-complicated nature of truth are woven throughout the collection, reminding readers that some discoveries arrive not when we seek them, but when we are finally ready to receive them.
This project marks a new chapter in my writing journey, extending beyond academic and reflective writing into the realm of creative storytelling.
🐢 Baby Saggia™
Baby Saggia™ is an evolving creative project inspired by the belief that growth often begins with reflection. Centred around a gentle turtle and the world it inhabits, the project combines storytelling, journalling, colouring, and reflective resources designed to encourage self-awareness, emotional well-being, and personal growth.
Drawing upon themes of resilience, kindness, curiosity, gratitude, and purpose, Baby Saggia™ invites readers and participants to slow down, pause, and reconnect with themselves through meaningful reflection. What began as a creative idea has gradually expanded into a growing collection of books, guided journals, colouring resources, and selected merchandise that bring the Baby Saggia™ world to life.
More than a series of publications, Baby Saggia™ represents an ongoing exploration of how stories, creativity, and reflection can create space for learning, healing, and growth at every stage of life.
🎤 Workshops, Talks & Collaborations
I remain open to opportunities for workshops, talks, reflective writing programmes, facilitation, moderation, and selected emceeing engagements. My areas of interest include reflective practice, personal and professional development, communication, writing, lifelong learning, and topics related to accounting and higher education.
While I continue to pursue ongoing writing and creative projects, I welcome opportunities to contribute to meaningful programmes, conversations, and initiatives that align with my values, interests, and availability.
Workshops
Facilitation
Talks
Moderation
Reflective writing programmes
Selected emceeing engagements
