When Lamma Islander Bruce McLaren performs his job well, high-profile events unfold more smoothly. Soft-spoken and favoring finesse over fisticuffs, he’s one of Hong Kong’s leading security directors and celebrity bodyguards.

A co-founder of Signal 8 Security, Bruce guards famous people who visit Hong Kong. Recently, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore became a client. Bruce also has protected Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Lopez, Phil Collins, Sting and many others.

“Often the work’s dull,” Bruce said. “You meet famous people and see interesting things, but sitting outside someone’s hotel room for hours can be very tedious. There’s lots of reading magazines or pacing up and down to stay active. The hotels often help by providing sandwiches, coffee and water. Bodyguards receive a list of people allowed to knock, and we turn everyone else away. If we do the job right, it should be dull. Any trouble means that we underestimated the situation or didn’t prepare properly.

“With celebrities, we also focus on crowd control and escorting them through fans. Scenes at the airport can resemble rugby scrums, especially with the boy-bands. Then I like to bring at least two guys for each person we’re protecting.

“Although I’ve never been caught in a really dangerous situation with celebrities, the media pursuit is stressful. We’ve nearly been run off the road by fans and the press chasing us. Often drivers want to speed up to get away, but I tell them to slow down. It’s more important that no one gets hurt.

“At events, you constantly scan the crowds. You take the best position, not too close to the client to avoid getting in the way. At a cocktail reception with Al Gore, I stayed against a wall, always within 20 feet and with Al in clear sight. If someone acted suspiciously, I’d move closer. You watch for anyone with hands hidden or acting strangely, maybe agitated and with eyes darting. If something’s wrong, you usually get warning signs.”

Bruce operates from a modest office in Hong Kong’s Central Business District. When duties prevent him from catching a late-night Lamma ferry, he sleeps at the office under the gaze of celebrity clients peering down from autographed posters on the walls.

“Late hours and strange schedules affect your sleep patterns,” Bruce said. “Usually, I can relax on Lamma, but I never switch off my phone.” He most enjoys strolling on Power Station Beach with his girlfriend and their four pet dogs – Bart, Cookie, Hannah and Spike the Bulldog.

Originally from near Glasgow, Scotland, Bruce arrived in Hong Kong one week after a Chinese atrocity, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989.

“At first, I worked as a waiter, barman and cook,” Bruce said. “I started in security to earn extra money. After watching the security at concerts, I told the promoters that I could organize the jobs better and cheaper.

“A few days before the Planet Hollywood restaurant opened in Hong Kong, I was asked to handle the bodyguards for that, which became a huge logistical nightmare. Ten days later, I’d lost 12 pounds from sleeping just two hours a night, but things went smoothly. Money from that first big job allowed us to set up a company.”

In 1994, Bruce and his Australian business partner Kim-Maree Penn, a former karate-world-champ and martial-arts-actress, launched Signal 8 Security. Last year, Kim-Maree opened a branch office in Los Angeles.

Bruce employs a core group of 10 full-time bodyguards, some Chinese, others Western, usually working in shifts of 10-14 hours. Altogether, he has about 40 regular staffers. For big concerts or sports events needing yet more security people, Signal 8 collaborates with other companies.

The basic cost for a Signal 8 bodyguard starts at US$50 per hour. Protection may be high-profile, as when shielding singers from screaming fans, or low-profile to facilitate business meetings. Bruce pledges efficiency and confidentiality.

“We travel around Asia with celebrities and into China with business people,” Bruce said. “Most attacks come from behind so you walk behind and slightly to a client’s left, which keeps your right hand free.”

Hong Kong laws forbid bodyguards from carrying firearms, stun-guns or pepper spray. “We rely on our bare hands and maybe umbrellas or walking sticks,” Bruce said.

Threats need constant assessment. “Professional assassins strike from a distance to avoid getting caught,” Bruce said. “They use bombs or high-powered rifles. Against them, you keep your client away from areas of visibility. You use underground carparks, put up canvas screens and constantly change schedules or routes. An assassin needs to know who, where and when. We try to keep those secret.

“Most attackers with knives or handguns have grudges or mental problems. They’re after the person we protect, which means the weapons don’t point at us, and we can deal with them. In crowds, we watch the first three rows, where an attacker needs to be for a clear shot.

“Priority one always is to remove clients from danger. In a two-man team, the bodyguard nearest an attack deals with it while the other gets the VIP away. As a lone bodyguard, you do just enough to drop an attacker before extricating the client.”

Signal 8 protects individuals, events and venues like nightclubs, offices or homes, often 24/7. The corporate client list includes the Hard Rock Café, Elite Models, Microsoft, DKNY, Universal Music and Warner Brothers.

“For business people, the most dangerous places are their homes and offices because they need to go there,” Bruce said. “We may recommend alarms, motion detectors, CCTVs, razor wire, metal detectors and secure car-parking spots.”

Signal 8 supplies security for various bars and nightclubs. “If I use reasonable and proportionate force in doing my job, then I have no serious problems with the police,” Bruce said.

No matter how enraged others become, Bruce and his staff must stay calm. “We need humor and a tolerance for verbal abuse,” Bruce said. “But being spat on or poked is physical assault and justifies restraint. If someone pokes menacingly, I’ll grab the extended finger, bend it back and bring the person to his knees. Then we’ll talk.

“Ideally, Signal 8 avoids the nightclubs prone to triad troubles,” Bruce said. “But some difficulties are unavoidable. Then we may be outnumbered 20-to-one, so we try to recognize the top guys. Sometimes we may tell club management, ‘Music off, lights off, everyone out.’ If the triad members fight each other and we have no control, our priority becomes making sure that all the customers and staff stay safe.”

Bruce has trained in marksmanship, unarmed combat, defence and restraint, protective driving, secure escort, searches for explosives, anti-sniper measures, electronic counter-surveillance and first-aid.

Some precautions are hi-tech. “When sweeping offices for bugs, we start at the top, probably in false ceilings, and work down, sectioning the space so that nothing’s missed,” Bruce said. “We cover entire rooms and every object in them. It takes a long time.”

Bruce began his working life as a marine engineer and a firefighter. To share some of what he’s learned in the security business, he teaches “real-world” self-defence classes.

“People assume that the main thing is an ability to fight,” Bruce said. “But if you do everything else right, you avoid fighting situations.”

ARCHIVES

Bruce trains in aggressive gun-play.


An umbrella may repel an attack
or frighten photographers.


Singer Jennifer Lopez (centre)
relaxes in Signal 8's care.


Bruce poses by his “credentials wall”.


Hulk-like Arnold Schwarzenegger
(centre) relies on Bruce (left).


Near an autographed Jennifer Lopez

poster, Bruce stares down
an impertinent journalist.


Signal 8 guards from behind
while escorting the band Westlife.


Not shooting at shadows, Bruce and his colleagues prepare for real dangers.


Bruce (right) protects actor Jackie Chan.


Crouch and fire: guns aren't usual tools,
but Bruce handles them well.