NUS Indian Professor loves to do Research on Local Issues

For Professor Sumit Agarwal, the things around him always make him think deeply, such as the trouble of not being able to get a taxi after a yoga class, or the short distance between elevators and stairwells, which makes people rely too much on elevators and rarely exercise. These are the livelihood issues that he cares about.

Agarwal was formerly the vice dean of the National University of Singapore Business School and is currently a visiting professor at the school. His work mainly explores the daily lives of Singaporeans from many aspects and proposes solutions to improve people's living quality. "I am a person who likes to solve problems." Professor Agarwal said in an interview with "New Point".

"Problem solving" is not only inseparable from Professor Agarwal's research work, but also contains his father's guidance, which shaped his personality and had a profound impact on his outlook on life.

Aggarwal, 46, was born in Uttar Pradesh, India. His father was an economist. When he was 6 years old, his family moved to Africa because his father worked for the World Bank affiliated with the United Nations.

Agawa spent most of his childhood in Africa. For safety reasons, he was escorted to and from school by bodyguards every day. "Most of my classmates were poor, and there were also children of other UN staff. We would always sneak out to play together after class, which made the bodyguards very anxious!"

The turbulent situation in Africa exposed Agarwal to poverty in the third world at an early age. Since his classmates came from different families and cultural backgrounds, he has always been tolerant of the multi-racial society.

Economics can help solve problems

Aggarwal majored in computer technology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the United States. After obtaining his degree, he originally planned to continue his studies in this field, but at the persuasion of his father, he chose to study economics and obtained a doctorate. He said: "My father's view is that computers are purely a tool, and economics can help people solve problems in a broad sense."

Agawao's father has always spared no effort to improve people's lives. He shared: "Once, my father was ready to buy land in Africa for a symbolic dollar, in order to develop the area and create jobs. At that time, an investor wanted to buy it for 1 million dollars, but my father was indifferent because he knew that the investor would exploit the people."

During the interview, the honest Agarwal did not forget to mention the example his mother set in his heart. He said: "My mother is a housewife. She has always supported my father silently behind the scenes. She never asked my father to buy her expensive things and always thought of others."

Agarwal was inspired by his parents' hard work and compassion for the lower classes. He was determined to safeguard the rights of ordinary citizens and help them solve their life problems.

From 2000 to 2012, Agarwal worked at Bank of America and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. During his time in the financial industry, he realized how some of the bank's policies were disadvantageous to consumers; at the same time, he did not agree with the industry's extravagant practices.

Interested in Chinese customs and superstitions

Aggarwal's father passed away from lung cancer five years ago. In order to take care of his mother, he decided to return to Asia and joined the National University of Singapore Business School as vice dean in 2012. He stepped down from the position of vice dean recently. "At that time, I intended to switch to an academic environment and focus on research, which happened to be in line with the philosophy of NUS, which mainly explored and improved Singapore's livelihood issues."

Over the past four years, Agarwal has studied countless projects. He is particularly interested in the impact of the traditional customs and superstitions of local Chinese, especially people's superstition about the numbers 4 and 8, the hidden worries about having more children in the Year of the Dragon, and the social problems caused by the dream of getting rich.

He said: "The birth rate in the Year of the Dragon is 12% higher than that in other years. We predict that dragon babies will face great competition in school enrollment and employment. In other words, this will involve issues such as the quality of education and employment salary, which is worth discussing.

"As for the large number of people lining up to buy Duoduo in the dream of getting rich, our research shows that it is often the neighbors of the winners who suffer, because when they see the winners' material life suddenly improve, such as buying a new sofa or car, they tend to follow suit and end up spending more than their budget, becoming the losers of this gamble."

Agarwal is also concerned about Singaporeans' water consumption. The research team installed a water meter in the bathroom and found that people's water awareness has increased, from 21 liters to 15 liters when showering. "This experiment has been favored by the Public Utilities Board, and we are currently discussing how to widely implement this plan." It is worth mentioning that his contribution won the NUS Business School's Most Outstanding Researcher Award in 2016 and 2013 respectively.

The pros and cons of Singaporeans being afraid of losing

Professor Agarwal is a US citizen who holds a Singapore employment pass. He had visited the island nation several times before joining NUS. He revealed in the interview that he had come to Singapore 12 years ago to apply for another position at NUS: "Unfortunately, I had appendicitis at that time and ended up staying in Gleneagles Hospital for three days, which affected my overall performance. Ha, this is the memory of Singapore for me! Although I was not accepted at that time, I was still optimistic that the time was not yet ripe."

He said: "I admire Singapore's open society and meritocracy. As long as you work hard, no matter your background, anyone can succeed." When asked what characteristic of Singapore impressed him the most, Agarwal immediately replied: "Kiasu! The fear of losing makes Singaporeans proactive, but too nervous. Everyone should slow down and learn to relax. This is also reflected in local students, who perform well but care too much about grades."

Speaking of relaxation, Agarwal loves yoga. He said: "As a Hindu, yoga makes me feel reborn. Breathing promotes blood circulation and is good for health."

Aggarwal has a 6-year-old daughter and currently lives in London with his ex-wife. When talking about his daughter, the scholar immediately showed a fatherly smile and proudly showed his daughter's cute face on his phone. He said: "We usually chat through video, and I will also buy some clothes and toys and mail them to her."

Before the interview ended, Agarwal thanked Professor Yang Xian, Dean of the NUS Business School, for giving him the opportunity to move from the banking industry to the research field and get in touch with all levels of Singapore. He emphasized: "Since my salary is paid by taxpayers, I have an obligation to help Singaporeans solve problems and improve their lives."

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