Viral Tampines firefighter leaves SCDF after 14 years of service

Firefighter Muhammad Nursyahrin Md Yunan, better known as syahrin_jjang online, has left the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) after 14 years of service.

The 34-year-old SCDF Warrant Officer 2 (WO2) was one of the familiar faces behind Tampines Fire Station’s TikTok videos, which gained a following online for their mix of trending challenges and fire safety content.

The videos have gained hundreds of thousands of views each.

Nursyahrin announced his departure in an Instagram (IG) post on Saturday (Aug 1), reflecting on his journey from a young recruit to a firefighter, leader and father of two girls, aged seven and five.

"Words can't describe how it feels to leave a place that watched me grow up," his IG caption read, adding that he was closing a chapter of his life with "a heart full of memories".

He also thanked the colleagues, saying they shaped him through the lessons, challenges and friendships built over the years.

'Time to turn the page'

"As I close this chapter of my life, I do so with a smile, knowing this place gave me some of the best years of my life," Nursyahrin wrote in his IG post.

"Now it's time to turn the page."

He said leaving SCDF was not a decision he made lightly, reported 8days.

"I felt like I'd achieved what I wanted to in SCDF. I had the privilege of serving on the frontline, leading teams, and eventually discovering a passion for creating content and connecting with people through social media," 8days quoted him as saying.

Nursyahrin is now a social media content creator at ShortcutX, a Singapore-based health and wellness brand.

He told AsiaOne that he is excited about his new career because he can create content every day. 

"In SCDF, content creation was something I looked forward to on top of my operational duties. Now, I get to fully immerse myself in storytelling, explore bigger ideas and constantly challenge myself creatively."

Beyond the uniform

Asked by 8days about being described online as one of Singapore's most handsome firefighters, Nursyahrin laughed it off.

His online popularity has also followed him beyond his uniform. He has about 11,000 followers on Instagram and close to 10,000 on TikTok.

"I've had people stare at me before asking, 'Eh... aren't you the TikTok firefighter?' even when I wasn't in uniform. One even asked for a photo while I was at the gym," he said.

He told 8days that he viewed the attention as a compliment but hoped people would remember the message behind the videos.

"If people come for the looks but stay because they learned something about fire safety or gained a better appreciation for what firefighters do, then I think we've achieved something meaningful."

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helmy.saat@asiaone.com