SINGAPORE - A British author is looking to get in touch with the family of a Singaporean World War II pilot, who was the inspiration behind a major character in a book she wrote. Ms Onjali Rauf, who has won multiple awards for her work in Britain, wrote The Lion Above The Door in 2021. It features a major character...
British author Onjali Rauf based a major character in her book off Singaporean World War II pilot Tan Kay Hai.SINGAPORE - A British author is looking to get in touch with the family of a Singaporean World War II pilot, who was the inspiration behind a major character in a book she wrote.
Ms Onjali told The Straits Times that she would like to get in touch with Mr Tan's family so that they know what he means to not only her, but also to the thousands of children now learning and wanting to find out more about his story. In 1941, he became the first Straits-born Chinese to fly with the RAF, as well as the first recruit from Malaya to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the highest military honours in Britain, which is awarded to officers for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy".
Mr Tan would also go above and beyond his duty in the face of intense fire - on one occasion, he was given the positions of five enemy batteries, and was told to engage three. He went on to successfully engage all five of them, then registered a further battery which he had located, and finally successfully engaged a concentration of enemy transports.
The woman, whose name she does not recall, then told her about Mr Tan, which led Ms Onjali to do more research about him after she returned to Britain. She travelled to different museums and RAF bases in England to track down records or mentions of Mr Tan, spending more than £1,000 on her research. "I said yes right away - I had been wanting to visit Singapore since writing The Lion Above the Door. The hope of visiting Tan Kay Hai's grave and finding out more about him and his descendants was too great," she said.
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