SINGAPORE - In the first month Foxy's Chikn opened in Joo Chiat Road, its owner Shahrizan Mohamed Sapri lay awake each night worrying over the day's takings. On several days, the till closed with just $50.

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.

"I really wanted to cry," he says. "Many 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." But he felt it was "now or never", he says.

He resigned in February 2026 and opened Foxy's 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.

In 2019, he discovered that his then wife had been physically abusing their two daughters. She was sentenced to three years' 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.

"The 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," he says, his eyes glistening.

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.

Fatherhood spurred love for cooking

He met his former wife in 2009 through mutual friends and married her in 2010.

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.

"Even when I was very tired, I would cook for the family," he says.

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.

"I wanted to expand my repertoire and improve my cooking techniques," he says.

Somewhere at the back of his mind was the thought that he might one day venture into F&B.

But before that could happen, his family life unravelled.

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.

"At first, I believed her," he says. "But later, I felt it was very odd."

One evening in June 2019, he returned from work and saw that his elder daughter's two baby front teeth had fallen out. She was eight.

The children's mother maintained that the child's teeth had come loose. "I didn't believe my wife because I see my daughter every day. Her teeth had been fine," he recalls.

He took the girl to KK Women's and Children's Hospital. After speaking to her alone, the doctor informed him his daughter had revealed that her mother had been hitting and slapping her.

"I felt very sad that my daughters had gone through all this," he says. "I felt I failed to protect them."

The doctor alerted the police. Shahrizan later checked his home's CCTV footage and saw his wife repeatedly slapping his daughter. "My heart broke seeing that," he says.

His police training helped him remain calm, but it did not spare him the guilt of not uncovering the abuse earlier.

He visited his wife in jail twice, hoping she would change. "I genuinely thought she could still change and I didn't want my kids to grow up in a broken home," he says.

But she showed no remorse for what she had done to their children, he says.

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.

"I did not want her near my kids. I didn't want to risk them being hurt again," he says.

Starting over

Counselling through the years helped to stabilise his children's mental health. "My 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," he says.

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.

"I feel sad for my children that they don't have a mum to care for them," he says. "That 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."

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.

After the difficult first weeks, business picked up. Foxy's 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.

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.

He has started spending more time with his children again. Recently, they went to Batam for three days while his employees ran the shop.

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.

At Foxy's 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.

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.

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.

Shahrizan began testing fried chicken recipes on his children in 2022. The buttermilk-brined chicken quickly became a family favourite.

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.

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.

After all, he says, "I started this so that I can leave something for my children".

Foxy's Chikn