Hotel employees lauded for their bravery at annual ceremony
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove employees (from left) Muhammad Sunasri Samat, Mohd Fadhlul Rahman Abu Bakar, Azhar Hamid and Mohammad Nazir Lajis each received a Special Mention award at the annual Hotel Security Awards ceremony.
ST PHOTO: KHALID BABA
Cara Wong
SINGAPORE - First, there was a loud explosion. Then, the boat erupted into flames right in front of senior marina assistant Muhamad Sunasri Samat's eyes.
But instead of fleeing together with the boat's occupants, Mr Sunasri, 38, grabbed a fire extinguisher to try and put out the flames.
Within minutes, four of his colleagues from ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove had joined him in his endeavour. The five cordoned off the area and fought the growing flames, continuing to do so even after professional firefighters arrived on the scene a while later.
For their efforts, the five men each received a Special Mention award at the annual Hotel Security Awards ceremony at the Furama Riverfront on Tuesday (Oct 30).
Recalling the incident in March this year, Mr Azhar Hamid, 52, said the situation was dangerous as the boat was in the fuel dock. The employees did not know how the fire had started.
"After this episode, we did think, what if the petrol nearby had exploded, all of us are married with children," said Mr Azhar, an assistant security manager.
"Risking our lives should not be our duty, but we just reacted instinctively; when something that dangerous happened, we just wanted to help."
One infant and 14 people were hurt in the incident.
Apart from the five men, 14 other hotel employees were recognised by the Singapore Hotel Association for their bravery, vigilance, or honesty.
Another award winner, Mr Suresh Kumar Govindaraju, a security supervisor at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, had helped to save a 10-month-old baby boy.
The 51-year-old former firefighter had been called to a hotel guest's room by another colleague last December, after the guest requested help with his son, who had a high fever and was having seizures.
Mr Suresh, who is married with two sons aged 15 and 20, noticed the baby had stopped breathing and was starting to turn blue. He immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the baby, who regained consciousness soon after.
"I was trained to save lives and property. It's just part and parcel of life in the security line," said Mr Suresh.
