SINGAPORE \u2013 In the first month Foxy\u2019s Chikn opened in Joo Chiat Road, its owner Shahrizan Mohamed Sapri lay awake each night worrying over the day\u2019s takings. On several days, the till closed with just $50.<\/p>\n
It was a bruising start in the food and beverage (F&B) business for the 42-year-old former police officer, who had left a 23-year career to open the fried chicken eatery. The single father of three had plonked $50,000 of his life savings into the venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to cry,\u201d he says. \u201cMany of my friends and family said I was crazy to leave a stable job and do this, especially when F&B is very tough now.\u201d But he felt it was \u201cnow or never\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n
He resigned in February 2026 and opened Foxy\u2019s Chikn on April 26. The Muslim-owned, 35-seat eatery, which serves hand-battered fried chicken with housemade sauces, stems from his desire to make a fresh start, leave a legacy for his two daughters, aged 15 and 10, and his son, nine, and close a traumatic chapter in their lives.<\/p>\n
In 2019, he discovered that his then wife had been physically abusing their two daughters. She was sentenced to three years\u2019 jail in 2021. He later divorced her and was granted sole custody of their three children. Only his superiors and closest friends knew then what his family had endured.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe irony of my life was that, as a police officer, I was out there protecting the safety of citizens, but at home, I had all these issues to grapple with,\u201d he says, his eyes glistening.<\/p>\n
Shahrizan obtained his O levels from East View Secondary School in 2000 and graduated from ITE College East in 2003 with a Nitec in electronics. He served his national service in the police force, then joined the Police Coast Guard as a regular until 2024, when he was transferred to the Police Operations Command Centre as a station inspector.<\/p>\n
Fatherhood spurred love for cooking<\/h2>\n
He met his former wife in 2009 through mutual friends and married her in 2010.<\/p>\n
Two years after his first daughter was born in 2011, he began preparing simple dishes such as nasi goreng for her meals. Later, he cooked macaroni, mee goreng and other meals for all three children before or after work.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when I was very tired, I would cook for the family,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
From 2013, he began using his annual leave to attend culinary courses and workshops that lasted three days to a week, learning to make everything from Malay desserts to beverages.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to expand my repertoire and improve my cooking techniques,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Somewhere at the back of his mind was the thought that he might one day venture into F&B.<\/p>\n
But before that could happen, his family life unravelled.<\/p>\n
In December 2018, after noticing one bruise too many on his daughters, he installed CCTV cameras at home. His then wife, a homemaker, said the bruises were normal because the children often fell down while playing together.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I believed her,\u201d he says. \u201cBut later, I felt it was very odd.\u201d<\/p>\n
One evening in June 2019, he returned from work and saw that his elder daughter\u2019s two baby front teeth had fallen out. She was eight.<\/p>\n
The children\u2019s mother maintained that the child\u2019s teeth had come loose. \u201cI didn\u2019t believe my wife because I see my daughter every day. Her teeth had been fine,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
He took the girl to KK Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Hospital. After speaking to her alone, the doctor informed him his daughter had revealed that her mother had been hitting and slapping her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt very sad that my daughters had gone through all this,\u201d he says. \u201cI felt I failed to protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor alerted the police. Shahrizan later checked his home\u2019s CCTV footage and saw his wife repeatedly slapping his daughter. \u201cMy heart broke seeing that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
His police training helped him remain calm, but it did not spare him the guilt of not uncovering the abuse earlier.<\/p>\n
He visited his wife in jail twice, hoping she would change. \u201cI genuinely thought she could still change and I didn\u2019t want my kids to grow up in a broken home,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But she showed no remorse for what she had done to their children, he says.<\/p>\n
When the children learnt that their mother would be released from prison in 2023, they became anxious. Shahrizan realised there was no chance of reconciliation when the children resisted her return to the family. That year, he filed for divorce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not want her near my kids. I didn\u2019t want to risk them being hurt again,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Starting over<\/h2>\n
Counselling through the years helped to stabilise his children\u2019s mental health. \u201cMy children brightened up a lot. I see the difference in them. Before, they were reserved and seemed fearful at times. Now, they are very chatty and they like to tell me everything,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Shahrizan remains close to his former parents-in-law and takes the children to see them once a month. He also invites relatives over for meals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel sad for my children that they don\u2019t have a mum to care for them,\u201d he says. \u201cThat is why I try to foster good relationships between my children and both sets of grandparents. I want them to have as complete a family life as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaving the police force and a stable income was not easy, he says. But he wanted to create something his children could one day inherit.<\/p>\n
After the difficult first weeks, business picked up. Foxy\u2019s Chikn, which employs three part-timers, now sees regulars and receives corporate orders. Shahrizan has also trained his team to marinate and cook the chicken and prepare coleslaw.<\/p>\n
The shop has started covering costs, but he is still not drawing a salary. He reckons he will be able to start drawing a basic salary in three months. For now, he is surviving on his savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shahrizan invested $50,000 of his life savings into Foxy\u2019s Chikn.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n He has started spending more time with his children again. Recently, they went to Batam for three days while his employees ran the shop.<\/p>\n His second daughter enjoys helping at the eatery on weekends, tidying tables and folding takeaway boxes. His son is proud of the business, and has invited his friends and their parents over.<\/p>\n At Foxy\u2019s Chikn, Shahrizan serves what he calls fusion-style fried chicken, using an American-style batter laced with Asian spices such as cumin and ground coriander. All the chicken is buttermilk-brined for a day, then marinated and coated in housemade breading with more than 10 spices, including paprika.<\/p>\n Shahrizan frying chicken at Foxy’s Chikn.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The Tenders Set ($13.50) has three chicken tenders, battered fries, New York Deli Coleslaw, ranch dip and a bottled drink. The coleslaw is made in-house, with cabbage, carrot and raisins brined, dried and tossed in dressing to stay crunchy and tangy.<\/p>\n The Tenders Set from Foxy’s Chikn.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The Chikn Sandwich Set, Spicy ($13.50), has a boneless chicken thigh wedged between two halves of a brioche bun with gherkin pickles, smoky, garlicky housemade mayo-based sauce and a tingling 12-ingredient Flamin sauce made with cayenne pepper, paprika and Cajun spices.<\/p>\n The Chikn Sandwich Set from Foxy’s Chikn.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Shahrizan began testing fried chicken recipes on his children in 2022. The buttermilk-brined chicken quickly became a family favourite.<\/p>\n Now, he is planning seasonal specials and an upcoming Sunday brunch menu with dishes such as chicken waffles and chicken porridge to draw more customers on quieter Sundays.<\/p>\n After years of protecting others, Shahrizan says his focus now is closer to home: giving his children safety, stability and a future to look forward to.<\/p>\n After all, he says, \u201cI started this so that I can leave something for my children\u201d.<\/p>\n Where: <\/b>01-02, 95 Joo Chiat Road SINGAPORE \u2013 In the first month Foxy\u2019s Chikn opened in Joo Chiat Road, its owner Shahrizan Mohamed Sapri lay awake each night worrying over the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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Foxy\u2019s Chikn<\/h2>\n
Open: <\/b>11am to 9pm, Tuesdays to Sundays. Closed on Mondays
Tel: <\/b>9773-1344<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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