Contrary to popular Chinese belief, being born in the auspicious year of the Dragon might actually lead to a higher risk of unemployment and lower pay.
Why, you might ask? Well, the explanation is rather simple: It’s basic economics.
This is just one of many uniquely Singaporean discoveries that three National University of Singapore professors are trying to show in their new book titled “Kiasunomics”, which was officially launched on 19 December at the National Library of Singapore.
Drawing on their own research findings, Kiasunomics is a joint project by professors Sumit Agarwal, Ang Swee Hoon and Sing Tien Foo. It aims to use economic principles and rationality to explain interesting trends in Singaporean society.
While the prospect of being overwhelmed with complicated economic jargon and theories might scare you, the book aims to address just that.
Using the life experiences of Teng, a fictional character set in our modern island city, the three authors aim to deliver their research findings through a more conversational and informal way.
For instance, drawing on the example listed above – a local school teacher explains to a young Teng how high unemployment might be caused by a higher number of dragon year adults fighting for a limited amount of resources within their cohort when they come of age.
It is trends like these, they argue, which can be explained by the rational “kiasu” – which means scared to lose in Hokkien– trait of Singaporeans.
“Singapore as a nation is kiasu, not just its citizens,” Agarwal said at the book’s official launch.
The visiting professor of finance added: “I think it’s a collective trait, and that’s a good thing. Whenever there are strained resources for a limited number of people like in Singapore, you are bound to see competitive and driven behavior.”
“As an upside, Singaporeans are more competitive and edge forward in life.”
“I don’t this kiasu-ism is causing Singaporeans to lose their imagination. Singaporeans have achieved many things because they are driven and kiasu.”
“For instance, there are people who come here and try to copy our public housing model, and that is no small feat!”
Ang, an associate professor of marketing, also chipped in: “I think its (being kiasu) typical human nature. It’s just a matter of the degree in which you express this particular trait.”
“It is natural for us to be protective, to excel under the best of circumstances, which calls for some motivation…and that calls for some kiasu-ism.”
“I am not ashamed of being kiasu. I think being kiasu shows how much importance I place on certain issues and events.”
“I want to be in control, why leave it to chance? If it’s something that I control, I want to have a say in it,” added Ang.
Kaypoh-nomics?
The idea for the book was first conceived about 6 to 7 years ago when Sing, the director of the NUS Department of Real Estate, approached Sumit, who was also conducting research on public housing in Singapore.
Sing explained: “Before that, I had read a few of his papers, and after he joined NUS, I invited him for lunch to eat Chili Crab. He started asking me questions about foreigners – if they must pay higher prices to buy a house in Singapore.”
From that conversation, they decided to explore that topic – they collected data and looked at Singaporean household purchasing behavior.
“We did a series of papers (which formed the basis of the book) looking at the foreign and local behavior…the data was interesting, but we just needed to come up with a good and interesting story.”
Speaking of good stories, it was another unique local trait that prompted Ang to become involved in the project in the first place.
Ang explained: “The two of them were doing research together, so I kaypoh (the hokkien slang for curious) lah! I read their work, and I was also writing about their work, and eventually, we got to know each other.”
“In academia, there is a bias towards US data. These two were one of the few who were using local data, and I was very piqued.”
Using Big Data
Together, the three requested and pulled data from official sources such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Public Utilities Board to gain the material needed for their work.
As such, Ang stresses that the research communicated in their book are not just a “small sample” or just “people’s impressions”, but real data and real numbers from legitimate sources.
Explaining how he managed to get sources from the Land Transport Authority, Sumit added: “Getting the data was not hard. All you needed to do what to tell them not just how I will benefit from the data, but how they will benefit from the data.”
The 20-chapter book thus explores how Teng’s career, education, and finances.
Later on, the book also explains how an older Teng – now a taxi driver – deals with real life events like the haze, public housing, and the Great Singapore Sale.
With chapters titled “Taxi Driver, Where Are You?” – which explores the economic behavior of taxi drivers – and the haze related “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” which explains and utilities usage trends, the access to this data allowed the trio to discover interesting and useful trends relating to many aspects of local life.
For instance, in the chapter “Lady, Do You Want To Tee Off”, the trio explore the glass ceiling in Singapore, and actually use economic research to find possible solutions to the problem.
Drawing on data from golf results and directorships, the research revealed that while golf – a commonly known social networking tool – benefits men, it benefits women even more.
Specifically, they discovered that 70% of women are more likely to end up in corporate board positions if they play golf.
Ultimately, it was the opportunity to bring these practical and useful findings the wider Singaporean public that also motivated the publication of this book.
“We wanted to show people the relevance of research, and how it can be so useful,” Ang said.
“Our journals and papers were only read by a handful of people…also, we realized that our language and writing was complicated, like it was writing in ‘Greek’.”
“So, we wanted to find a way to make our findings beneficial and accessible to Singaporeans. Essentially, we want you (the Singaporeans) to benefit from our research, and to make better decisions for a smarter nation.”
Kiasunomics is now available in all major bookstores and online stores. The Kindle version is available here.
