Interview with Mr. Sarjit Singh

Having been awarded multiple national honours awards, could you share more about your background, the environment you grew up in and how it has shaped your outlook on life - seeing that you are highly involved in several volunteering experiences such as the Central Singapore Community Development Council and the Singapore Indian Development Association?

Sarjit: I grew up as a third generation in Singapore. When I was young, my father would bring me for quality walks during the evening. I have watched my dad interact with my neighbours, and try to solve their problems. The next day, he would call the relevant governmental agencies. If there was a water leakage, or there was a drain that was blocked, or lights that were not working, he would get that fixed and try to resolve problems creatively. I would see for myself, how one person could make such a large impact on the lives of everyone around him. My dad was my superhero.

These were the values that shaped me. Sadly, my dad passed away when I was 10. However, that 5 years of my time spent with him meant everything and made me what I am today.

Starting off in PwC Financial Services and staying for 16 years is a very long time. What made you choose to stay as opposed to jumping into a commercial role or maybe internal audit?

Sarjit: I sincerely enjoyed every part of my life at PwC; you get the chance to work with incredibly smart people and to work on clients’ portfolios. It is because of these experiences that you will have the opportunity to grow, develop and become a better person. Within your first three years, you will already have juniors and you will be leading the audit team. You will be interacting with clients and giving presentations. There are not many such opportunities out there, which are given to someone in the early phase of their working life.

However, accounting provides you the opportunity, it gives you the opportunity to serve clients, to learn from clients and also to learn about businesses. First you learn technical skills and then organisational skills. After 5 years or more, you will be able to hone your leadership skills because that's when you get the opportunity to lead not just an audit team, but an audit engagement. I found every single day of my life in PwC to be so fulfilling!

How was the transition like across your career progression?

• From 16 years in PwC to undertaking CFO roles in financial services companies (AIA and AVIVA)?

• Teaching as a professor in NTU.

• Becoming Executive Chairman in Ardent Singapore and Chairman in Kreston Ardent CAtrust PAC.

• Appointed as CEO in In.Corp Group.

Sarjit: I graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a degree from National University of Singapore and I went on to join PricewaterhouseCoopers. There, I was awarded a scholarship to do my chartered accountancy programme in Sydney. Subsequently, I spent 16 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers and became a director. Then, an opportunity came along. A recruiter was looking for a role as CFO in the AIF Insurance Group.

I became the first CFO of AIA, Singapore for the next 8 years. At that point of time, my focus was to set up my project of setting up the AIG Private Bank. Unfortunately in September 2008, there was a global financial crisis and I was in the middle of it all. I took on additional responsibilities as a key executive of AIA. Then I went to join Aviva and spent 3 years there. I was given a sum of money to make sure that I continue to serve AIA for three years. However, I didn't feel the money belonged to me. Thus, I decided to take the money and set up an endowment fund in NTU. I told the dean that one day I would love to come and teach. The next year I was appointed as an adjunct professor spending six years because I enjoyed interacting with students.

Then I went on to start a business in my current role as the CEO of In.Corp Global Pte Ltd. I have found a lot of joy taking on this entrepreneurial route in the last four to five years and building up a business and the joy is watching it grow.

Could you share more about that, and how, like, both your volunteer experiences and your career journey have allowed you to win multiple National honours awards?

Sarjit: I consider myself very blessed to be recognised nationally, with 4 awards from the president of Singapore over a 14-year period. This year I was given the Public Service Star (Bar) which is better known as Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Bintang) by the President. I focused on serving and didn't think about the awards. But they certainly ignite a passion in me to do more, to learn more, to share more, and to become more. I take it as an opportunity to reinvent myself. And think about how I can add more value and make a positive difference to people around me as well, so that they will be inspired.

Another award that I received in 2019 was called the SkillsFuture fellowship. The intent of that award is not just to share knowledge and skills with others around you, but also to develop yourself. In the last two years since the award, I've actually completed three programmes. I am now a Chartered Valuer and Appraiser CPA with the Institute of values. The second one is a course called the financial forensic professional which I have attained at the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

Future of Accounting: How do you see the accounting landscape transforming in a digital world in the next 5-10 years, particularly on emerging industry trends that students or professionals should keep a lookout for?

That's a great question. I will respond with a little experiment. If I asked you to close your eyes, and imagine that technology of the future, what comes to your mind? In most people's mind, it will be self-driving cars, robotics, space tourism. Actually, the biggest upgrade that we can make to ourselves is really the inner technology in us, and that is learning to learn. The four skills that come to my mind, which no robot can replace are creative thinking skills, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, and communication skills. I say that because it's very hard to predict the future. All I know is that in five years' time, 75% of fortune 500 companies will be names that we never thought about. After all, thousands of jobs are just going to go and change form.

Building trust is what I consider a super essential skill that everyone should try to develop, and not worry about how the future of work or future of technology will take shape. Because if you have those skills, which are networking skills, building a community around you, likability skills, if you are liked and trusted, you will be okay, you'll be well positioned for the future.

We must be prepared to take some risks. When you're young, take more risks because you can afford to do that.

Those four skills I talked about should be skills that we should develop at the university level. Right now, the time to act is now. And those are four skills that no robot can ever replace.

How was your experience studying in the Harvard Advanced Management Program?

The one that I wanted to do for the longest time in my life was the management programme at Harvard Business School. I spent 7 months studying every night from 8:30pm till 3am. We also had learning group activities during lunch time. Thus, we used to eat and participate in discussions with my learning group. My learning group comprised six executives coming from 5 different continents. We were all excited to learn and develop and grow together. And that was an amazing experience; one that I would find that I would remember for the longest time and cherish for the longest time.

Could you share more about the past qualifications you have undertaken in addition to your degree and how it has helped you in your career journey?

I think qualifications are important because they provide you the credibility that you can conduct your work as a professional. The CA qualification to me is very important because it opens your door to the world of Accounting, Auditing, Financial Reporting, and not just that, it also covers Business Valuation, Governance, and Risk Management, Governance and Valuation. When you tell someone that you are a chartered accountant, they would know that you have gone through a learning path and you have acquired those skills and you are able to then carry out your professional duties to a client. The later qualifications, which I've acquired now, have broadened my skills beyond just accounting and auditing skills, but also valuation and forensics. There are things that I would be able to do now, as I go deeper into the client's situation and try to help resolve their problems.