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As a child, James Anthony Tan, the youngest Malaysian pilot, had trouble reading numbers and alphabets. But dyslexia has never been an obstacle to his ambition of becoming a globe-trotting pilot.
At 21, Tan, who is on a mission to fly half way around the world, will cover 40,000 km and visit 31 destinations in the world to prove that determination can overcome dyslexia. He has an aim to motivate children with special needs.
Flying a 30-year-old, single-engine Cessna 210 eagle aircraft, Tan touched down at Kolkata on Saturday, completing nearly 36,400 km. From here, he will fly to Yangon, Myanmar, on Monday and from there to Phuket, Thailand. His final stop will be at Subang airport. He had started his journey from Langkawi, Malaysia, on March 26.
Tan found India “incredible” from his aircraft. The youngest Malaysian pilot was also mesmerised to see the Bollywood movie on dyslexia – Taare Zameen Par – and could relate to its eight-year-old protagonist Ishaan.
Interestingly, a sand storm at Qatar, a partial failure of the fuel pump, and frozen waves while flying above northern Russia towards Alaska helped Tan gain experiences to deal with the challenges of a pilot. He holds a commercial pilot’s licence from UK Civil Aviation. “I did not have time to get scared when there was a partial failure of the fuel pump. I was trying to get out of the situation,” he said.
According to Raszlan Abdul Rashid, Acting High Commissioner of Malaysia, this programme is organised by Malaysian Youth Association and supported by Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak. “This (around the world flying programme) is to foster positive values among the youth,” Rashid said here while addressing a press conference.
Amran Abdul Rahman, director, Tourism Malaysia, said that his country might use the young pilot’s mettle to promote tourism and woo young travellers. “Yes, we are planning to make him an icon for Tourism Malaysia. Especially for the young tourists market, he will be an attractive figure,” Rahman said.
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