The client had taken loans from loan sharks while gambling at a casino and was not able to repay after losing close to $50,000.

Two armed men – one with a pistol and the other with a knife – held him captive in his hotel room and took his passport away.

But the man had a second mobile phone, which he used in the bathroom to communicate with Mr Kng.

Mr Kng cautioned his client against speaking on the phone, saying: “It is better to communicate by texting and to buy time with the kidnappers by saying that somebody is arranging for the money to be paid.”

At the same time, Mr Kng alerted law enforcement and military contacts in the Philippines. They hatched a plan to free the hostage.

The staff in the hotel where the Singaporean was staying were informed of the impending raid by armed officers.

A knock on the room door a few days later, and the Singaporean was rescued without any shots being fired.

“They surrendered when they saw the rifles carried by the officers. It was a case of ‘my gun is bigger than yours’,” said Mr Lium, who declined to reveal what they charged the man.

The two men were arrested and the Singaporean was later escorted to the Singapore embassy in Manila.

Mr Rachmadi said the strength of SRS lies in the network of partners it maintains in more than 15 Asia-Pacific countries.

He added that the lessons imparted by a former officer from Yamam, an Israeli counter-terrorism unit, gave SRS a broader perspective when handling armed crises.

The company’s services are also employed in the corporate world, where business rivals can play dirty when it comes to getting their hands on confidential information or trade secrets.

Part of SRS’ services include debugging – or spotting hidden listening devices or video cameras.

Said Mr Rachmadi: “Proper debugging of a room doesn’t involve just waving a ‘magic wand’ and saying that the room is ‘clear’. It’s a long and thorough process which follows a certain protocol and a proper sweep of the room.”