This year marks ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove’s 14-year anniversary, and it seems fitting to profile one of its oldest staff, Security Manager, Azhar Hamid—he joined the marina in 2007 while it was still in its construction phase.

“When I started off here, we had only one zone. In my 14 years, we have evolved to have three zones,” he says. It is very obvious from Azhar’s tone and choice of pronouns that he takes great pride in how much the Club has evolved. “It’s also been a tremendous growth for me along with the Club,” he says. “I learnt a lot from all my bosses and Members about different cultures. It has made me more attentive and I have also become more conscientious.”

Azhar has spent most of his career in the security line. He did his National Service in the police force and eventually joined the force. After nine years as a police officer, he tried his hand at being a Lands Officer. “But I realised that I really missed my uniform days and became an auxiliary police with CISCO before joining here,” he laughs.

He may joke about his reasons, but Azhar is a security person through and through. When he stepped into the marina to interview for the Security Officer’s role, the first thing that caught his eye, besides the grand sight of yachts, was that it was an open concept—which gave him an idea of the tight security requirements.

Always Alert

Azhar starts his day with a full debrief from the night-shift officer, and then he checks that all security points are up and running. Throughout the day, regular checks are performed to ensure that all safety measures are adhered to and vehicles entering the Club premise are authorised.

There have been times when he has had to come in during the night to handle issues. “My main goal is to ensure that we (the Club) do not have any liability, my team is safe and has been executing their duties well,” he says.

His commitment and instinctive actions have no doubt garnered him a few awards—including the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) Certificate of Commendation in 2016 for rescuing infant twins, who had been left unattended in a locked car in the sun. Unable to find the owner, Azhar, a father himself—he has three sons and a baby daughter—knew that he had no time to waste, as the infants’ faces were turning red from the heat in the car and outside. He and his team immediately broke through the window, covered the infants with wet towels while waiting for the Singapore Civil Defence Force to administer further medical help.

Azhar displayed similar agility and leadership qualities when a fire broke out in the engine room of one of the boats berthed at the marina. His quick response in informing the relevant authorities, jumping in with his team to put the fire out and ensuring no one was hurt earned him the bravery award in 2018 from SHA.

He also received a Service Star Merit Award under Sentosa CEO Star Awards 2020. The award was in recognition of the lengths he went to recover the wallet, carrying over US$1,500 and all the travel funds, of one of the guests at the hotel. Although, the guest had misplaced it outside the Club, Azhar, using the goodwill he shared with the staff and management of Sentosa Cove, was able to locate it and retrieve it back to the guest in person.

“I have been given the task of making the Club safe and secure, and I have to execute it at all costs.”

Polite Enforcer

Awards and commendations are indicative of Azhar’s responsible nature and drive to keep people safe. But it can get challenging having to balance his role of an enforcer with his extrovert personality.

“It is not possible to make everybody happy—that’s one of the challenges of my role. My job is to ensure people follow regulations—this is for everybody’s safety. I do so politely, but it is not possible to execute my job effectively if I come across as someone who is overly friendly as well,” says Azhar.

“Without my mask, people might see me as someone who is fierce, but I have been given the task of making the Club safe and secure, and I have to execute it at all costs,” he says. It is, however, obvious that Members can see beyond that “mask”. Many Members wave at him as they pass by during our shoot, some even come up to him with queries about regulations and policies. It is evident that the air of quiet assurance he carries about him makes them feel safe—especially during the onset of COVID-19, which posed a whole other set of challenges.

“This was new for all of us; we were all learning—along with the government. So we had to be on our toes and meticulously follow through all the safety guidelines,” he says. It was one of the first times since he joined that he had to look at barricading points of the Club. “Basic things such as face masks and thermometers were difficult to source due to high demand. We also had to be prepared to act in the case of any positive cases, so we had to create a new pandemic SOP. There were challenges, but, thanks to the cooperation of all staff, we managed to overcome them,” he adds.

To say that Azhar thrives under pressure may be an over-simplification, but one thing is not: his positive mindset. “I believe that in life there will always be problems. But every problem also has a solution—you just have to keep looking for it,” he says emphatically. While being the one who always stays on top of things and is in control of situations at the Club, Azhar’s situation is the complete reverse once he gets back home, his three-year-old daughter has him wrapped around her little finger, and at her beck and call. “She is my angel,” he says with unfettered affection. “All my kids are my angels, they are who I live for,” he adds.

As for his future, he is where he wants to be and enjoying it—to him, that’s not a problem that needs solving.