He is master of his own element, whether it be behind the Tavern Bar at the Harmony Club or behind the wheel of his taxi.

And now Malcolm "Cheeks'' Johnston has been named the Hospitality Person of the Year by the Hospitality Professional's Association.

"They sprung all this on me 24 hours ago,'' said Mr. Johnston yesterday.

"I did not even know I had been nominated. I am totally surprised and taken back.

However the 49-year-old father-of-two said he is not particularly looking forward to the award dinner at the Mid Ocean Club on Saturday night -- not because he does not value the award -- but because he is very shy.

"I don't deserve it. I am overwhelmed and full of trepidation.'' He said his extroverted side came out when he was in the role of bartender or cab driver.

However outside of these pockets of comfort he was exactly the opposite, claimed Mr. Johnston.

"There was this one time they had a photographer here taking pictures of the staff for a brochure. When he came to take my picture I could not stop shaking. I was shaking like a leaf.

"But when I am behind the bar or in my cab this doesn't bother me. I have been around guests all my life but there are certain things I prefer.'' Being called up in front of a lot of people was not one of those things, he admitted.

But let a guest come to his bar looking surly and Mr. Johnston said that within 15 minutes "I've got them smiling''. "I don't go out of my way to do it, I just like people genuinely.'' The claim was backed up by Harmony Club General Manager William Griffith.

"Cheeks is both a marvelously dedicated person in the hotel industry and is someone who has a warmth and a wit that comes naturally.'' Born in Warwick, Mr. Johnston's father was a bellman at the Belmont Hotel and his mother was a housekeeper with Bermuda Cottages so the hospitality trade was always going to be in his future.

"We were a service family. I have always been working in hotels so it was not an accident that I ended up here,'' he said.

He attended Howard Academy and Sandys Secondary School but spent his vacations from the age of 12 working at the Belmont in a variety of positions including elevator operator and in housekeeping.

This was no different a lifestyle than that of many children in the same neighbourhood, he added.

"South Shore was a breeding ground for service industry people. It was all hotel people around where I grew up. It was that sort of environment.'' However when he left school he landed a job as a gas station attendant at the Shell Station on South Shore.

Shortly afterward he moved to the newly opened Southampton Princess where he worked with Concord Cycles renting livery bikes.

"The hotel had just been finished and there wasn't even a building for us to work out of so we rented bikes right out of the parking lot,'' he recalled.

From the cycle livery business it was onto bartending at Grotto Bay. Mr.

Johnston stayed there for "quite a number of years'' before moving on to the Police Club in St. George's.

It was at this time that Mr. Johnston bought his taxi permit and he went to work on the Island's roads until about two years ago when he was called upon to take up a bartender position at Harmony Club.

Today he continues to tend bar in the evening and drive cab by day. "I find them equally as exciting,'' he said. On December 1, Mr. Johnston was named Employee of the Year.

Looking back and noting the decline in the Island's tourism industry, Mr.

Johnston said he had seen changes during his time in the business but ruled out on-Island factors as causing the decline.

"I think it is more the airlines and economics that are causing us problems rather than our service ability,'' he said.

On-Island service had not slipped drastically by any means, he pointed out.

Instead airline fares had risen steeply.

And he shot down claims of on-Island service not giving value for money.

"A lot of people say that we are not giving value for money but when most people leave here they are contented. It is very rare for them to be discontented. People leave and they want to come back.'' He also noted that economics had trimmed people's length of stay on the Island.

"When I first started at the Belmont, people stayed for a long time. Guests used to come for a month or two months, now they stay for four nights. When I first started, three weeks was considered a short stay.'' The longer stays gave staff and guests a chance to know one another on a more personal basis.

Young people were not able to have this chance and it seemed to show in the fact that many of them were not as service orientated as their older counterparts.

"They are still pleasant but they just don't go that extra mile. My father drilled that into me.'' Also drilled into him at a young age was his nickname. An older child once noted that he had big cheeks and Mr. Johnston said he made such a fuss about it that the nick name stuck with him.