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SINGAPORE – Former political official and MP Amrin Amin has moved into the tech sector and will take over roles in two local companies, following his departure from government following the recent general elections.
Amrin, 42, has been named chief strategy officer at robotics and automation firm Platform for Bots and Automation (PBA). Mr. Amrin, an attorney by training, will also take on the role of non-executive advisor at ADERA Global, a company dedicated to data security, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.
Popular Action Party (PAP) candidate Sengkang GRC, whose team lost to the Workers’ Party at GE2020, officially begins both roles on September 14, but has already attended meetings and joined these companies.
Mr. Amrin was formerly Parliamentary Secretary for Internal Affairs and Health and MP for Sembawang GRC, Head of the Woodlands District.
Speaking to The Straits Times at the PBA office in Yishun on Friday (September 4), he said that he began thinking about looking for work the day after Election Day, July 10.
Amrin, a former partner at a law firm, said returning to the legal field would have been the “easy way,” but the cutting-edge quality of the tech industry got him excited and wanted to try something new.
“I think I’ve checked that box,” he said, referring to the legal sector.
“And I was looking to the future, what is hot right now and what is going to add value to my life experience. And the answer must be to venture into new areas, to extend my potential beyond the legal and governmental. “.
But when asked if this meant that he would not return to politics or law, Amrin laughed and said “never say never.”
“We cannot be living in our past, nor do we want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” he added.
SENGKANG GRC
Amrin has no regrets having contested Sengkang GRC, which was created recently for the recent elections and is made up of the former individual seats of Sengkang West and Punggol East, as well as the Sengkang Central district of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
“Do I regret competing in Sengkang? Definitely not. I do not regret it because it is a great honor. A great honor to fight one of the toughest battles for the match and to stand up for what I believe in,” he said.
[[nid:494882]]The PAP team lost to WP MPs He Ting Ru, Jamus Lim, Louis Chia, and Raeesah Khan, who received 52.1 percent of the vote.
Amrin campaigned alongside former labor chief and minister Ng Chee Meng, former senior minister of state Lam Pin Min and newcomer to the PAP, attorney Raymond Lye.
Mr. Ng remains the general secretary of the National Congress of Trade Unions, while Dr. Lam has returned to medical practice. He is the executive director and director of the Eagle Eye Center.
Amrin, who became a deputy in 2015, said that the PAP had a good team working in Sengkang but that they respect the choice of voters, as that is “the nature of life and politics.”
As much as the result surprised him, it was the reactions of the people who expressed their support after the defeat that surprised him the most.
In government, Mr. Amrin, among other things, worked to get ex-offenders back on their feet and supported the role of local team officials. He also participated in uplifting efforts for the Malay Muslim community.
As she talked about the people who thanked her for her service, Amrin became emotional.
“I thought I was just a small cog in the whole system, trying my best to do my part, but I was very touched and humbled by the depth of sincerity of the people who came to share about the impact of my work, and He urged me to continue serving the people, ”he said.
TECHNOLOGICAL SECTOR
Amrin said it hopes to use its experience to grow the companies it will work for.
At PBA, he said he will focus on his Robotics Automation Center of Excellence academy, which trains budding robotics professionals, including mid-career workers.
It has trained more than 700 people since 2018 and has provided workers to more than 100 companies.
It will also help PBA and ADERA to expand their business here and abroad. ADERA runs initiatives such as a digital payment system in the Philippines and automated unmanned banking machines in Cambodia.
“These are very exciting developments. And also important because they expand Singapore’s economic footprint. It provides Singaporeans with more jobs,” said Mr. Amrin.
Being in the private sector complements his experience in law, community work and government, he said, adding that it will give him the opportunity to observe the creative and technological trends here.
Amrin said he can now spend more time with his one-year-old daughter and his wife, a family doctor.
She has enjoyed going to the park and the baby gym, and catching up on Korean dramas. A post last month on his Facebook account for recommendations for Korean dramas garnered more than 2,000 reactions.
https://www.facebook.com/amrin.page/posts/2699270363693766
He remains committed to public service as Chairman of the Sengkang Central Branch of PAP. He said “the work continues” for him and his fellow racers.
“We will have to do our best as party activists, not as elected officials, of course, having lost the election. But we do our best as party activists in that constituency,” he said, declining to reveal more.
With a sizable social media following of nearly 55,000 on Facebook and 19,000 on Instagram, Amrin intends to continue to speak out on topics that matter to him and to people that society might overlook, such as blue-collar workers and workers. ex-offenders.
“I’ll still keep my ears close to the ground. It’s a habit that’s hard to break,” he said.
“You don’t stop feeling for the people you care deeply about and for the country you love in a single election cycle. It’s in my blood.”
This article was first published in The times of the strait.
