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CNA
10 hours ago
- Business
- 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.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The loophole fuelling Britain's illegal migration crisis
The small boats crisis is perhaps the perfect example of British state failure. It begins with our unwillingness to reconsider refugee conventions that function as a backdoor for economic migration, is mediated by Border Force effectively serving as a ferry for anyone able to drag themselves halfway into the Channel, and is fuelled by the lure of a taxpayer-funded hotel with ample working opportunities on arrival. Between them, these factors explain why Sir Keir Starmer's promises to end illegal migration by 'smashing the criminal gangs' are doomed to fail. And they also suggest the easiest way to start cutting arrivals: smash the gig economy instead. Earlier this week, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, directly accused a swathe of delivery companies of failing to prevent hotel migrants from finding work through their platforms. On visiting a hotel, he wrote, he found 'delivery bags' for multiple companies and spoke to a local shopkeeper who said migrants were 'regularly' riding bikes bearing the logos of these companies. At the moment, gig economy firms benefit from a glaring loophole in right-to-work checks. Companies are obliged to check the status of those they employ, but not self-employed workers carrying out contracts on their behalf. The result is that gig economy firms have no effective liability for illegal work that takes place through their platform. Many of these firms insist that they already conduct identity checks on riders who sign up for their platform, and indeed they do. It's also plain that these checks are clearly not actually preventing illegal working; as Philp observed, anyone who passes by an asylum hotel can see that there are quite evidently flaws in the current set-up. The result is a flourishing market in account buying, rental and substitution. Earlier this year, I joined several pages on Facebook dedicated to exactly this. Each had tens of thousands of members: 40,000 for one, 46,000 for another, 75,000 for a third, 51,000 for a fourth. Members discussed how to deal with identity verification on rented accounts, complained that people whose accounts they had worked on had failed to pay them, and offered accounts for sale and rent. The sums involved can be substantial. Pay £75-100 a week to rent an account, £60 to rent a bike, and graft at deliveries and you can bring in £500 a week in delivery fees while the Home Office pays for your food and board. And as you're working illegally, you're unlikely to pay any income tax or National Insurance unless you are both very conscientious and very stupid. As some have pointed out, there are asylum hotels in the centre of London. One, in particular, sits near studio apartments for rent starting at £1,600 a month. With your illegal earnings at roughly £17,860 of spending power over 52 weeks, £19,200 of Zone 1 housing services, no council tax (a £1,530 saving for our Band B flat) or utility bills (say £1,261) to pay (meals provided by your hotel), and £9.95 in weekly cash from the Government, a hypothetical boat arrival would enjoy a lifestyle that a taxpaying legal worker would have to earn more than £50,000 to achieve. Small wonder, then, that an Istanbul-based people smuggler told an undercover Telegraph journalist that Britain is the location of choice for illegal migrants because 'all you need is a mobile phone and a bike' to make 'good money'. Small wonder, either, that 42pc of the riders stopped by a Home Office enforcement team in April 2023 were working illegally. One police officer who had been out on enforcement activities noted that a force sent 'a few cars out to find people working illegally. Each car pulled over a bike, and each one took a rider in for working without a visa or overstaying. It was crazy that we had a 100pc hit rate'. More interesting was the degree to which this is coordinated. 'They have groups as well, not only to buy and sell accounts. They message each other when they start getting pulled over or get into accidents. 'You'll have a bunch showing up to help, or they'll all leave town and go to another area to work there for the day. Not the most hi-tech solution, but it works.' At the moment, the Government is making small steps towards dealing with this issue. The current immigration bill gives ministers the powers necessary to impose checks on substitutes through secondary legislation, but it hasn't set out a timetable for doing so. The bigger issue, however, is that laws only matter when they're enforced. The UK currently conducts roughly 9,000 illegal working visits each year, or 25 per day. Given that old estimates suggested that as many as 240,000 businesses may use illegal labour, even if the Government had a list of doors to knock on – and ignoring the entire issue of gig economy workers – it would take 27 years to work through the list. If the risk to businesses is tilted favourably, the risk to migrants is even lower. The entire immigration enforcement spend for 2023-24 was around £700m, while just 41pc of those turned down for asylum between 2010 and 2020 had been removed from the UK by 2022. The Government isn't going to deport them, they have no income and no assets to seize. What punishment is realistically coming? In other words, legal changes won't be enough without real teeth to enforce. As a former police officer noted, part of the problem is simply that enforcement is 'complicated by a silly division of responsibility and information'. Police, for instance, have 'almost nothing to do with immigration', and the national police computer won't show the migration status of someone stopped and searched. While it's possible to find out with a phone call, 'most officers won't even know that it's possible to check'. At the same time, with no list of visa over-stayers, police officers running into people and carrying out a check is one of the main ways we find out about illegal migration: immigration enforcement teams don't patrol or run into people in random encounters like police officers do. Like the stacks of bikes and bags at asylum hotels, none of this is hard to find. Nor is it hard to find out about the risks that these substitution practices – putting unvetted men in contact with customers – can enable. A freedom of information request submitted to the Metropolitan Police in 2023 showed that between 2019 and 2022, 38 delivery or postal workers were charged with sex offences. A harrowing story earlier this year set out how a woman was assaulted by a gig economy worker who essentially did not exist within the datasets held by the firm; no one had any record Closing the loopholes and lack of enforcement that allow illegal labour to flourish is vital to cutting off the pull factor for waves of illegal migration, and to ensuring the safety of the British public. Rather than ranting about 'criminal gangs', Sir Keir's administration should focus on what it can do on our shores.
The Guardian
16-06-2025
- The Guardian
Sales of illegal and dangerous ebikes must be stopped, say MPs and peers
Ministers must urgently act to stop the sale of illegal and potentially lethal electric bikes, with a particular focus on their use by gig economy delivery riders, a committee of MPs and peers has said. The rapid spread of highly powered bikes or conversion kits causes hazards on the roads and can lead to fires because of cheaply made batteries, the report by the all-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking said, calling it 'a crisis hiding in plain sight'. This was even having a detrimental impact on active travel, the report said, with some travel networks and workplaces banning all ebikes from their premises, and people with legal ebikes being refused insurance. Under UK law, ebikes are only allowed to use electric assist to power the machine up to 15.5mph when the rider is pedalling, with a maximum power output of 250w. But the report said it is easy to find ebikes sold by major online retailers with powered speeds of 40mph, 2,000w motors and throttle control, all of which are illegal. Often, the report said, these were offered with the loophole that they should only be used offroad. As well as being bought for personal use, such ebikes – which are officially, under the law, illegal electric motorbikes – are widely used by food delivery riders. Many of these use overseas-made conversion kits with multiple batteries, which are often not made to UK fire safety standards. The report cites London fire brigade data showing that the service responded to eight incidents involving ebikes or escooters in 2019, rising to 116 in 2022 and 179 in 2023. The cross-party report, which took evidence from fire services as well as police, cycle industry bodies, gig economy workers and experts, calls for police to be given clearer powers to seize illegal ebikes, as well as a scrappage scheme for such machines being used by delivery riders, funded by their companies. It also demands changes to the law to make online sales websites responsible for listings of illegal bikes, and an end to the 'offroad only' sales loophole. The report also calls for delivery services to take responsibility for making sure their riders use legal bikes, and for a wider move for gig economy riders to be taken on as workers. Fabian Hamilton, the Labour MP who chairs the group, said: 'This is a crisis hiding in plain sight. 'While responsible cycling businesses continue to meet high safety standards, the rise of illegal and unsafe ebikes, often bought online and used in the gig economy, has created serious risks for riders, the public and the future of active travel. 'We need urgent action from government and industry to stop unsafe products entering the UK and to protect those being exploited while trying to earn a living.'
Independent Singapore
15-05-2025
- Independent Singapore
M'sia-registered motorbike spotted making Grab and foodpanda deliveries in Newton area
Photos taken from SRX Property and IG/@foodpandasg SINGAPORE: A Malaysian-registered motorcycle seen making food deliveries for Grab and foodpanda at a Balmoral Road condominium has stirred concerns among residents, raising fresh questions about illegal foreign food delivery riders operating in Singapore. The incident, which occurred on May 4 at around 7 p.m., was captured on video and shared with citizen journalism site Stomp by several condo residents. 'I'm submitting this video on behalf of a food delivery rider who captured it,' said one resident, 'The video shows a Malaysian motorcycle carrying Grabfood and foodpanda food delivery orders.' She added, 'We believe the Malaysian motorcyclist was delivering those food orders and thus was doing something illegal.' The sighting has reignited worries about foreigners without valid work passes taking up gig work in Singapore's tightly regulated labour market. Concerns over such practices were previously raised in Parliament in October 2024. In response to a parliamentary question, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had said it was aware of the issue and had been working with food delivery platforms to tackle the problem. 'MOM has worked with food delivery platform operators to advise riders against allowing foreigners to use or share their food delivery accounts,' the ministry said in a written reply. The ministry added that platform operators have been urged to enhance their account verification processes to prevent misuse by unauthorised parties. 'Working through platform operators is more effective and efficient than conducting proactive inspection, given the decentralised and mobile nature of food delivery work,' the MOM said. Between January and June 2024, MOM received 14 complaints related to suspected illegal foreign riders. Of those, only one case resulted in enforcement action, with the remaining found to be unsubstantiated. Last November, four foreigners were charged with working illegally as food delivery riders without valid work passes. Under Singaporean law, such offences can result in fines of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
