A role model: Those who grab opportunities will succeed

Listen to this article:

Amar Singh graduated with the Doctor of Philosophy in Management from the University of Fiji in Lautoka. Picture: REINAL CHAND

LIFE is full of challenges and opportunities, only those who grab those opportunities and overcome struggles will succeed in life.

This advice was given to Dr Amar Singh by his father, while growing up at their sugarcane farming settlement in Kabisi, Sigatoka, many years ago.

And it happened that he took on this advice seriously and did not let go of any opportunity.

The Sigatoka man made headlines in local news after he was awarded the first PhD degree from the University of Fiji.

And his journey to achieving this in life began way back when he first graduated with Teachers Certificate in 1990 and taught in various primary schools in Fiji for seven years.

“I successfully completed my Bachelor of Arts (double major in accounting and economics) in 1999 and then moved to high school,” Dr Singh said.

“The Arya Pratinidhi Sabah of Fiji established Nadroga Arya College in my locality and I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to teach for two years at this institution.

“I pay my respects to the pioneer school principal, Shrees Chand for his passion towards education and this motivated me to pursue Masters of Business Administration from USP in 2003.

“After completing my MBA Degree, I joined Fiji Airways (previously Air Pacific) in 2004 and at the same time commenced part-time teaching for USP’s MBA program from 2004 to 2010. The University of Fiji’s MBA program commenced in 2011 and I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to teach on a part-time basis.”

Dr Singh had the intention to pursue his PhD degree for a long-time but the “fear of failure” and the challenges of balancing time between full-time work, part-time teaching, travelling from Kabisi to work at Fiji Airways, managing family commitments and taking out time to study prevented him from taking that bold step.

However, things changed sometime in 2013 when he met Professor Narendra Reddy.

It was during one of the meetings to discuss MBA results that he suggested that Dr Singh consider doing his PhD.

This was his turning point as it provided him the much-needed motivation to take that bold step.

“Before enrolling in the PhD program in 2015, I discussed with my supervisors what was expected from a PhD student and the challenges that I would face.

“Hence, I needed to ensure I was prepared to give my 100 per cent commitment towards my study and one of the prerequisite was having a favourable study environment.

“The timing was perfect as by then my two sons had already commenced study at USP. I moved to Malolo, Nadi mainly due to savings in travelling time and I needed a new environment with limited disturbance.”

To ensure that he strictly adhered to his strict study timetable, the former teacher prepared a 3.5 year plan and divided the key task with a timeline attached which he strictly followed with a high level of discipline.

And as part of his PhD studies, Dr Singh did his thesis based from passion for sugar cane farming background and his thesis topic was “Factors Causing a Decline in Fiji’s Sugarcane Production”.

The research focused on the design of the productivity/profitability measurement framework in Fiji’s sugarcane farming and using the framework to determine the dominant controllable factors causing a decline in cane production.

He said being a first PhD graduate and from the University of Fiji comes with added responsibility.

“I need to ensure, I continuously uphold the values of the university and become a role model for the current and future students.

“It was a totally different experience after my graduation. Since Friday last week I received a number of messages of congratulations and best wishes from schoolteachers, MBA students, high school students, my workmates, family members and from others whom I have met for the very first time.

“I am confident my achievement will inspire and motivate others to pursue higher education through various program at University of Fiji and I would be eagerly waiting for others to join in the new club.”

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 19
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)