Lifelong learners in the SAF

Military Expert (ME) 4A Muhammad Fikri Bin Suhaimi had always been driven by his passion for engineering.

It led him to pursue a degree in Mechanical Design and Manufacturing Engineering and eventually land a role as Mechanical Package Engineer at Sembcorp. 

"After working in the commercial engineering sector, I wanted to apply my skills in a more meaningful way," ME4A Fikri explained. 

While attending last year’s National Day Heartland Celebrations, he came across the Singapore Army’s booth and found his answer.

"The Army offered me the opportunity to pursue a career where I can continue to develop professionally and make a difference."

He decided to make a mid-career switch, and signed on this year under the Military Domain Experts Scheme.

Strong family support

Signing on was not an easy decision – as the father of a 1-year-old son, ME4A Fikri knew making such a major switch at this time would be a challenge. 

Fortunately, his wife was highly supportive of his career move. “She told me to go for it, and not to worry,” he said.

His parents were also ready to jump in and help her take care of things at home whenever he had overnight duties in camp.

"Their encouragement allowed me to stay focused and persevere through the training."

Bringing depth of knowledge

Although ME4A Fikri had gone through National Service (NS) and served In-Camp Training as an Operationally Ready National Serviceman (NSman), he acknowledges that the expectations are different now that he is a Regular.

“As a Military Expert, the depth of your knowledge and your responsibilities are greater (than that of an NSman),” he said. 

Now an Army Engineer in Maintenance and Engineering Support (MES), he serves as the Deputy Operations Officer in 9th Army Maintenance Base (AMB).

“I hope to become someone my team can rely on – I want to contribute through my engineering expertise, support my colleagues, and help the Army maintain its operational readiness,” he said.

Today, ME4A Fikri is one of 202 graduands appointed as Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Senior Military Experts at the 31/26 Senior Military Expert Appointment Ceremony (SMEAC).

Held at Temasek Club, the ceremony was officiated by Minister of State for Defence Desmond Choo.

The graduating cohort comprised 46 personnel from the Singapore Army, 28 from the Republic of Singapore Navy, 65 from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), and 63 from the Digital and Intelligence Service. 

Despite his wealth of experience, he approached the MDEC with an open mind.

He explained: "This is not the first Route of Advancement course that I have attended, but it always feels refreshing to be a student again.

"Regardless of how senior or experienced we may be, there is always something new to learn, and at times, something familiar to relearn from a different perspective."

Sharing experiences and growing

During the course, ME4 Bai leveraged his experience to tackle the complex challenges posed in his assignments, particularly the policy review and Project SUMMEX assignments.

"With our years of experience in the RSAF, we better understood the ground challenges, which enabled us to develop recommendations that were practical and could benefit the personnel working on the ground," he said.

For him, the lessons gleaned from discussions with commanders from other units were the most valuable as they allowed him to learn new perspectives and good practices.

Today, ME4 Bai serves as the Command Chief of 708 Squadron (SQN), where he takes pride in maintaining the standards and well-being of his men.

The squadron is in charge of ground logistics and movement, overseeing the smooth operation of Changi Air Base (West). He looks forward to using what he has learnt to grow future military experts.

“I will apply what I have learnt to strengthen (the squadron’s) operational readiness, develop our people, and fostering a culture of discipline, professionalism and continuous improvement.”