03-4265 1632Charming Captain Overcomes Dyslexia To Become Guinness World Record Holder - Cindy Yap
Captain James Anthony Tan, born with dyslexia, did not allow his condition to hold him back. Against all odds, he set a new world record in 2013 as the youngest pilot (at age 21) to fly solo around the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Now 23, Tan, who hails from Sungai Long, Kajang was also awarded “2013 Man of the Year” by the World Record Academy.
Flying a 30-year-old, single-engine Cessna 210 Eagle aircraft through 21 countries and completing 22,000 miles in 50 days, Tan, who often professes his love for Malaysia, admits being emotional before touching down at Subang Skypark.
He says:
“Throughout the entire project, which took one year and four months of my life in total, the only time I felt emotional was while crossing the border of Thailand into Malaysia. I was crying my eyes out. I couldn’t speak.”
Tan shares with The Leaderonomics Show how he first saw a Boeing 747 during a family trip to the United Kingdom, which triggered his passion in aviation.
“My first thought was how pretty she looks!” he beams. He was also impressed at how cool the captain looked.
After seeing a jet fighter fly 90 degrees straight up in the air, his initial excitement turned into passion and he has not looked back since. He started flying at 18, became a fully qualified pilot at 20 and set the world record at 21.
Tan used to be a full-time private jet pilot, flying VVIPs around Europe, America, parts of Asia and the Middle East.
He explains:
“There are different types of pilots. Most people think of pilots with big planes and air hostesses. I was mostly ferry flying, which involved delivering a new, bare condition aircraft across oceans and continents, and leaving it with its new owner.”
His first job involved flying an SR22, a four-seater aircraft from Oxford to Bangkok and back.
After receiving the job offer through a call he received while watching a movie in his sister’s house, he went for training the next day and took off four days after that.
“Prior to that, I had never done a cross continental flight in a personal aircraft. No training, no experience,” he raves.
Truly, charmingly blessed
Feeling very thankful for the opportunities presented to him by people he had never met or flown with, Tan professes to be hard working and one who would go the extra mile to pursue his passion.
“I’m also very charming!” he gushes.
Exhibiting strong people skills throughout his interview, the confident and media-savvy lad reveals how he grew up as an anti-social person, lacking confidence until the age of 16.
“I hated wearing fine clothes; never did my hair and personal grooming was never in the equation. Something just snapped and caused the change.”
His smooth sailing journey in life started out with challenges when diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability, at age 8.
Tan admits being ashamed of his condition as a kid, especially with the prejudicial mind-set towards special kids in the 1990s.
He recalls with sadness how he and his mother had planned for a school dedicated to special education, which didn’t take off due to the hurtful comments and objections by the neighbourhood, adding that this perception has changed dramatically in recent years.