DIVING INTO BUSINESS

This former naval diver's switch to being an entrepreneur was anything but smooth sailing. 

He may have been an elite naval combat diver, but he felt like a fish out of water.

With 18 years of experience at the Naval Diving Unit (NDU) under his belt, Mr Philip Chia was more than familiar with underwater operations and training.

But starting his own scuba diving business did not come easy.

Taking the plunge

Mr Chia set up Aquanox Scuba in 2011 with his wife Selena Yan, who also left her job to help with the start-up.

For the first four years, he struggled to keep the company afloat. The business aspect of recreational diving was completely new to the former 2nd Warrant Officer.

"We got to know key players in the industry and talked to them about how to improve, like the things we should focus on for cost savings," said the 43-year-old.

"(For example) in Singapore, we don't have a diving site at our backdoor; they are all overseas.

So we have to plan our high and low seasons accordingly."

With the Chias' determination, business eventually picked up.

Seven years down the line, the company now holds regular dive trips in Tioman and Bali and has even won Scuba School International (SSI) awards such as "Highest SSI Dive Centre" in 2012 and "Top Performing SSI Dive Centre" in 2015.

While the duo started alone with 10 sets of diving equipment (including buoyancy compensators and regulators), today they have 17 active instructors and 60 sets of equipment across their stores in Singapore, Tioman and Bali, as well as a local dive shop in Parklane Shopping Mall.

They have also held lessons for personnel from firms like KPMG and Ernst and Young, as well as students from Singapore Institute of Technology.

Frogmen days

A cheerful and energetic man, Mr Chia has led a colourful life since his days as a young naval diver in the 90s.

As part of his duties in NDU's Clearance Diving Group, he was responsible for working with a buddy to recover missing bodies. His first job required him to look for a drowned man at Boat Quay at 3am.

"It was dark and although we had torch lights, we could not see anything so we had to use our hands to feel around," he recalled. "(In a way,) it's a good deed that we can bring the body back to the family members."

He was also part of a group that detonated a World War II (WWII) mine in the Singapore Straits in 1997.

Ms Yan understood how serious he was about his work, and supported him in attending a seven-month-long Explosives Ordnance Disposal course in the United States — even though she was pregnant then.

"We would talk over the phone and she would send me postcards of how her tummy was growing... She also told me that she would rub her stomach every night and tell our baby to wait for me to come back before coming out."

After graduating from his course, Mr Chia was allowed to return to Singapore two days ahead of plan. His daughter Melanie, now 20, was born two days after his return.

Building team spirit

Sentimental at heart, Mr Chia aims to build a "diving unit within Aquanox — in spirit at least.

"The fun part of NDU was the cohesiveness that we enjoyed with our peers, whether you're a junior or a senior, he said. "I want to set up this kind of 'diving unit' where everyone is ready to lend a helping hand…where dive professionals and students can train together to the highest standards.

A believer of hard work paying off, Mr Chia quoted Men of Honour, his favourite movie on naval divers: "There's a statement in it I really like — 'The Navy Diver is a salvage expert. If it is lost underwater, he finds it. If it's sunk, he brings it up. If it's in the way, he moves it.'

"In the world, there (may be) a lot of obstacles (in your way), but I say 'if there is an obstacle, remove it'.