Our Trainers, Our Pride: Training for Success

Our Trainers, Our Pride profiles outstanding Home Team trainers, a key force behind our ability to keep Singapore safe and secure.

PHOTO: Chloe Low

Training is critical for mission success – from day one of his 35 years of service, this has been ASP Sarfoji Radah’s core belief.

And it is now the HT Trainer of the Year (Merit) winner’s mantra. 

As a Leadership Trainer with the Leadership & Executive Training School of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Training Command, ASP Sarfoji pushes his trainees hard, and drives himself even harder to impart policing knowledge and deliver effective training.

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders
Now that he is grooming operationally ready police leaders, the veteran policeman focuses on equipping trainees not only with the necessary skills but also the right mindset. This is especially important given the nature of policing work.

“Our job is not like the corporate world,” ASP Sarfoji explained. “Because trainees are new to the force, we should set them on the correct path at every stage, in terms of discipline and character. They look to us to model service, character, mental resilience, and physical fitness.”

To help trainees appreciate their duties and SPF’s Mission, ASP Sarfoji openly shares his past policing experiences: “Much of our course runs outdoors where we share real life experiences with our trainees, so that they can relate to the missions they are tasked with.”

And to prepare them for the real world, ASP Sarfoji believes in challenging trainees by putting them on the spot to train for worst case scenarios. “When you’re on the ground, things are very fluid. A leader must be able to quickly adapt and change.”

Striving for Excellence
Despite being a full-time trainer only since 2019, ASP Sarfoji is no stranger to conducting training. In his last stint at the Criminal Investigation Department – where he spent 18.5 years – he has been an adjunct trainer since 2005, conducting the Post Blast Investigation course and Disaster Victim Identification course.

To update his skills, he regularly attends courses by the Home Team Academy on training safety and effective facilitation. He credits the Upgrading Professionally - through Specialist Certificate in Adult Learning and Education (UP-SCALE) Programme for preparing him well to tailor his delivery according to his trainees’ backgrounds and profiles.

PHOTO: Chloe Low

And what keeps him going day after day?

“When trainees who have graduated tell me they feel well-prepared to handle situations on the ground,” said ASP Sarfoji. “And when trainees reach out to me for advice and guidance, I feel affirmed as a trainer, for them to trust me enough to confide in me.”

Home Team Training Excellence (TRaX) Awards
The Home Team TRaX Awards are given out annually by the Home Team Academy (HTA) and recognise outstanding Trainers and Training Units in the Home Team’s Training and Learning Community. Follow HTA’s LinkedIn page for the latest Home Team Training and Learning updates.