Hotel employee lauded for saving girl who was choking in restaurant

Village Hotel Sentosa duty manager Kenneth Luah, 32, was in his office when a colleague of his alerted him that a girl was choking in the restaurant located within the hotel’s premises.

He rushed there and saw a girl, who looked no older than 11 years old, gasping for air at a table, and her face, lips and fingertips were turning purple.

Her parents were around her, calling out to her frantically and tapping on her back to try to get a piece of chicken out of her mouth.

The incident in April was Mr Luah’s first time seeing someone choking, but he managed to save her life.

On Oct 23, he was one of 267 hotel employees lauded at the Singapore Hotel Association’s annual Hotel Security Awards presentation ceremony at Furama Riverfront Singapore.

The awards, which started in 1981, recognise hotel employees for maintaining safety and security in the industry.

Recalling the choking incident, Mr Luah said: “The whole process was only about five minutes, but to me, it felt like an eternity.

“There wasn’t time for fear to set in. The entire focus was to get the food out, and ensure the girl was all right.”

He also tried tapping her back to get the piece of food out. Then he performed the Heimlich manoeuvre, but he said he was not sure if that got the food dislodged.

When she became unconscious and stopped breathing, he applied his cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training on her – it was his first time doing so in his eight years working in the hotel industry. Far East Hospitality, which manages Village Hotel Sentosa, sends its staff for CPR training every two years.

About 80 chest compressions later, the girl was breathing again but very faintly.

He resumed CPR until the paramedics arrived and took her to a hospital.

Mr Luah was one of 14 recipients of the Special Mention Awards in the areas of honesty, bravery, and vigilance.

At the award ceremony, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said the award recipients “have made the hotel industry a safe and secure place to work in and for visitors to enjoy”. “All of you have gone above and beyond your scope of work to safeguard the premises,” she added.

Also recognised at the ceremony was Hotel Grand Pacific’s housekeeping room attendant Jiang Liyan from China, 42, who received the Honesty Special Mention Award.

In March, she was cleaning a room when she found a black Ziploc bag among the rubbish on the floor.

She was shocked to find that it contained a large bundle of Singapore banknotes, which amounted more than $10,000.

She quickly took a photo of the cash and sent it to her housekeeping manager.

Up to that point, it was the largest sum of money left behind at the Victoria Street hotel by a guest, according to the security manager.

The money was subsequently returned to two tourists from China.

Ms Jiang said: “If I had lost my money, I would want somebody to return it, too. If this happens again, I will do the same thing, because I feel it is the correct thing to do.”

Receiving the Vigilance Special Mention Award was Mr Azhar Hamid, 58, head of security at hotel and yacht club One15 Marina Sentosa Cove.

On Sept 25, 2023, Mr Azhar was in the hotel’s fire command centre, monitoring CCTV surveillance footage, when he spotted a man pacing outside the hotel gate, trying to pry it open.

When a yacht crewman entered the hotel, the man tailgated him.

He deployed two officers to approach the man, while he remained in the fire command centre to track the intruder’s movements.

Mr Azhar saw him board one of the yachts and meddle with some flammable liquid cans.

The man, who spewed profanities and tried to lunge at Mr Azhar when he was questioned, was later investigated by the police.

Mr Azhar said: “My first priority was to safeguard the premises, my staff and the guests. I knew I needed to keep calm and think straight.”