CNA938 Rewind - Tech Talk: The Nintendo Switch 2 - Next-Gen or just Next?
CNA938 Rewind
Nintendo's long-awaited follow-up has finally docked in Singapore, and we've got someone who's put it through its paces. Is it just a shinier screen and faster chip, or has Nintendo truly levelled up? Daniel Martin speaks with Aloysius Low, Co-Founder and Editor of gadget review site Can Buy or Not.
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CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
In 2018, I lost my IT job and thought I'd never be in tech again. Now I teach AI to students and adult learners
In late 2018, I was the head of IT in a firm I had dedicated many years of my life to. One afternoon, I was called into a meeting, handed an envelope, and told that my role had been made redundant. Just like that, 18 years of hard work, late nights and quiet sacrifices went up in smoke. The first thing I did was call my wife. She didn't say much, just 'Come home first. We'll figure it out.' Her words grounded me in that moment. Because truthfully, my mind was completely blank – I had no idea what to do next. For the next three years, I felt like I was floating. Life became a meaningless blur of job applications sent into the void, polite rejections, and radio silence. With bills to pay, I became a Grab driver. It was honest work, and I came to appreciate the structure of the routine and the small human moments in picking up a sleepy executive at 6am or chatting with retirees on the way to the clinic. And then COVID-19 hit. Almost overnight, the roads emptied. My bookings dropped to a trickle; sometimes I'd wait 40 minutes for a single ride. I drove 10-12 hours each day and barely made enough to cover petrol, let alone meals, utilities, and my family's other needs. Still, every single dollar mattered. Behind the wheel, I fought not just physical exhaustion , but doubt. How long could I keep going like this? I carried my burdens with clenched teeth and silent prayers, but they only seemed to be growing heavier each day. For three years, I was running on empty both physically and emotionally. I asked myself over and over: 'Yatim, is this what you have become?' CHOOSING TO BELIEVE One night, tired from hours of driving with little reward, I came across the SGUnited Skills programme on my phone. My gaze caught on a course on smart factory and data engineering at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). The course description was peppered with words like 'Internet of Things' (or IoT), 'automation systems' and 'data integration' – all topics that had been mere emerging buzzwords when I was last working in IT. In that moment, I had a painful realisation: I had spent nearly two decades in tech, leading teams and building solutions that once felt cutting-edge – but all those years of experience meant little the moment I stopped learning. I had let my industry move on without me. I had become outdated. Obsolete. I missed the spark I once had. I missed feeling relevant and having something to offer. A small flame of faith fanned within me: Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe I still had it in me to grow. With a deep, trembling breath, I clicked 'enrol'. FINDING PURPOSE AGAIN Relearning at nearly 50 wasn't easy. I had to set aside my age and industry experience and return to the basics – not just in skills, but in confidence. But I was pleased to discover that SIT's eight-month course was structured thoughtfully to help all kinds of learners not just acquire technical knowledge and skills, but also apply them meaningfully. Through hands-on projects in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation, I began seeing how today's digital economy has evolved to create a need for different types of expertise. The teaching staff at SIT were experts but also patient, passionate mentors who believed in every learner's potential. With their encouragement and support, for the first time in years, I felt it was okay to ask questions, stumble and start over. The course didn't just deliver education; it delivered a renewed sense of purpose for me. RESKILLING ISN'T JUST ABOUT ME People often talk about reskilling or upskilling as a journey of personal growth. For me, it was never just personal. Through my years of redundancy, my wife held our household together with quiet strength, taking care of our five children while I was out driving long hours or buried in assignments. When I first enrolled in SIT, my kids – the youngest of whom was just six years old – didn't understand why Dad was suddenly home all the time. But once we explained I was 'back in school', they never failed to ask me at the end of each day: 'Daddy, how was class!' Truth be told, there were many moments where I wanted to quit. Moments where I felt too old, too slow – unsure if I could keep up. But on those doubtful, defeated nights, my wife would gently remind me why I started. We had many honest conversations about expenses, sacrifices, and the kind of example I wanted to set for our children. I knew that I wasn't just rebuilding myself. We were, as a family, rebuilding what our life could look like together. FROM LEARNING TO TEACHING When I started the SIT course, I wasn't sure where it would lead. But over time, I found myself thinking often about my past experiences mentoring younger colleagues as a department head, or hearing passengers' personal stories as a private-hire driver. I began to see that the true value in my reskilling journey was no longer about gaining knowledge. If I was serious about re-entering the tech field, I had to find a new path – one centred on connecting with and investing in people. Upon graduating, I started consulting to regain my footing in an industry that had changed so much. I had to rebuild my confidence in my abilities to both solve problems and work in tandem with others. Soon, though, I realised that it wasn't enough for me to grow. I wanted to help others grow, too. Eventually, I found myself back in the classroom, this time as an educator at a private Institute of Higher Learning. My first day in the job, standing before my first class was a profound moment for me. I used to think of AI and IoT as things that were out of my reach – now I was educating others on them. I had rebuilt myself – now I was helping others do the same. TO FALL IS HUMAN If you're feeling stuck, unsure or afraid right now, I want you to know that it's okay to fall. We all do – that's just life. What matters is what you do after the fall. Saying yes to re-education wasn't easy. It was uncomfortable, humbling and exhausting. But on our hardest days, there's a quiet strength that only comes from knowing someone who loves you is waiting for you at the end. My family's belief in me was strong and steadfast – and that made all the difference. Our true value as human beings is not in our title or pay cheque. We can always learn new ways to grow and contribute. And sometimes, the very thing that knocks you down can become the push you need to stand taller than you ever did before. Yatim Ghani is an adjunct lecturer in IoT and AI, as well as an advocate for mid-career upskilling and digital resilience.
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Flying high as Sports Boy of the Year 2025 — Kai Minejima-Lee
CNA938 Rewind Play 15 mins At just 15, he became the youngest World Cup champion in the sport, with 16 medals to his name — 10 of them gold. He's been named Sports Boy of the Year 2025, following a historic season in indoor skydiving. Daniel Martin and Justine Moss speak with competitive indoor skydiver, Kai Minejima-Lee. CNA938 Rewind - Flying high as Sports Boy of the Year 2025 — Kai Minejima-Lee At just 15, he became the youngest World Cup champion in the sport, with 16 medals to his name — 10 of them gold. He's been named Sports Boy of the Year 2025, following a historic season in indoor skydiving. Daniel Martin and Justine Moss speak with competitive indoor skydiver, Kai Minejima-Lee. 15 mins CNA938 Rewind - Tech Talk: The Nintendo Switch 2 - Next-Gen or just Next? Nintendo's long-awaited follow-up has finally docked in Singapore, and we've got someone who's put it through its paces. Is it just a shinier screen and faster chip, or has Nintendo truly levelled up? Daniel Martin speaks with Aloysius Low, Co-Founder and Editor of gadget review site Can Buy or Not. 19 mins CNA938 Rewind - A new business hub for Bishan: will more towns follow this LIVE-WORK-PLAY model? Plans to develop Bishan into a new business hub could see the introduction of around 200,000 sqm of new office space to the area. This will match the scale of that in Paya Lebar Central. Are we going to see more towns adopt the live-work-play model? Daniel Martin and Justine Moss discuss with Provost's Chair Professor at the Department of Real Estate, NUS Business School, Sing Tien Foo. 17 mins CNA938 Rewind - Beyond the map a journey through Arunachal Pradesh In Destination Anywhere, show producer Vaisali Prabhakaran speaks with Divyakshi Gupta, travel storyteller and creator of Quirky Wanderer, about her 12-day journey through Arunachal Pradesh, one of India's most remote and mountainous states. From cloud-shrouded monasteries and centuries-old iron bridges to traditional paper-making and home-cooked meals in hidden valleys, Divyakshi shares what it's like to experience this little-known corner of the Eastern Himalayas. 18 mins
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Sygnum is sole new unicorn from South-east Asia in H1 2025: report
[SINGAPORE] Digital asset group Sygnum has emerged as the sole new unicorn from South-east Asia in the first half of 2025, data platform Tracxn said in a report released on Thursday (Jun 26). The Singapore-based firm attained unicorn status in January 2025, after three rounds of funding and a total of eight investors before its unicorn round. Tech funding in South-east Asia reached US$2 billion in H1 2025, boosted by late-stage funding deals. This was 7 per cent higher than US$1.8 billion in the year-ago period, but 24 per cent less than US$2.6 billion in H2 2024. 'These figures reflect both a short-term slowdown and a longer-term recovery trend in the regional market,' noted the report. H1 2025 was marked by more late-stage funding deals and a rise in mega-round activity, contrasting with a general slowdown in early and seed-stage investments, the report added. Seed-stage investments fell 68 per cent to US$87 million from US$270 million in H1 2024. Likewise, early-stage funding also declined 53 per cent to US$464 million from US$991 million. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up On the other hand, late-stage funding jumped 149 per cent to US$1.4 billion from US$562 million. There were five rounds of funding worth more than US$100 million in H1 2025, compared to just two rounds in H1 2024. Tech firms in Singapore accounted for 92 per cent of all funding seen across South-east Asia in H1 2025. Taguig, a city in the Philippines, trailed far behind in second. The report noted that the 'significant role' of Singapore as a funding hub, combined with strong activity across acquisitions and initial public offerings (IPOs), underscores the region's resilience and evolving role in the global technology landscape. The study pointed out three industries as the top-performing sectors. Enterprise infrastructure was the highest, attracting US$859 million in funding, a huge jump from just US$22.1 million raised in H1 2024. This was followed by fintech, with US$775 million raised – a 26 per cent decrease compared to the year-ago period. The enterprise applications sector rounded out the top three, raising US$545 million in H1 2025, about a third higher compared to US$409 million in H1 2024. 'The dominance of enterprise infrastructure, fintech and enterprise applications highlights growing investor focus on scalable and impact-driven sectors,' the report noted.
