British author seeking to connect with family of Singaporean WWII pilot who inspired her book

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 based on wing commander Tan Kay Hai, a decorated, daredevil Singaporean pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during WWII on at least 190 missions.

"Tan Kay Hai's story has made such a huge impact on my life - The Lion Above The Door would never have been written if I hadn't learnt of him," said Ms Onjali, who arrived in Singapore on April 21 for a series of speaking engagements with various schools, including Tanglin Trust School, United World College South East Asia and Dulwich School.

"He represents all the millions of brave men and women who fought during World War II, but whose names and efforts can barely be found in our history books."

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.

"I would love them to know that his legacy goes on, and is growing - and that all this is just a beginning!" she said, adding that she has plans to rediscover and document such stories of heroism through various forms of media.

Ms Onjali plans to leave Singapore on May 1 after her engagements are completed, but said that she would be more than happy to delay her travel plans should it afford her the chance to meet Mr Tan's family.

Born in 1914, Mr Tan began his career as a car salesman, but took up flying to prove a point.

His daughter, Madam Tan Mui Hua, told The Straits Times in a 1991 interview: "My father told us that many Englishmen would make fun of the Chinese and said they could not be pilots. He took up flying to prove that the Chinese could be pilots too."

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".

In an article titled The Chinese Of Singapore And Their imperial Second World War 1930-1945 published in the 2012 edition of the Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies journal, historian Ernest Koh chronicled Mr Tan's daring feats.

Nicknamed "Charlie Chan" by members of his squadron after a Chinese detective character in Hollywood movies, Mr Tan was known for his and cheerful attitude among his peers and superiors, who noted his "exceptional keenness, initiative and total disregard of danger" in their recommendations for him to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He would fly at low altitudes to entice German anti-aircraft emplacements to fire at him to give away their locations. He would then turn around to fire on them, successfully silencing them.

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.

He was also the only Singapore-born Chinese pilot to fly with the RAF in the Battle of Normandy. During the operation, which spanned more than two months from June to August 1944, his plane was shot down over Paris. Mr Tan narrowly survived (no thanks to a faulty parachute) and was eventually captured by German forces, who took him to a prisoner-of-war camp.

Mr Tan then escaped the camp by jumping off a train, foraging for food in forests for three days before being rescued by American troops who then sent him back to England. Following this, he continued training and was sent to India to fight against Japanese forces, but they surrendered before he went back into action.

After the war, Mr Tan returned to Singapore and worked with the Department of Social Welfare until he retired. He died in 1991 at the age of 77, leaving behind his wife, three sons, a daughter and eight grandchildren. One of his sons is Mr Tan Thuan Heng, a former national swimmer and Singapore's first Sportsman of the Year in 1967.

Mr Tan is buried in Kranji War Cemetery.

Ms Onjali first heard of Mr Tan's exploits while travelling alone in Seoul in 2017. While visiting a museum there, she met a woman from Singapore, striking up a conversation with her about historical figures across the world.

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 (S$1,700) on her research.

However, there was little she could find out from the RAF, and she turned to Singaporean archives for more information on him. She reached out to Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times, and managed to obtain an article about Mr Tan, along with permission to publish it in her book along with his profile.

"It meant everything to me to have a real report on Tan Kay Hai right there for children to see after reading the story," she said.

In March 2023, Ms Onjali's agents were contacted by Authors Abroad, a British-based organisation that arranges for authors to visit schools, libraries and festivals worldwide, with an invitation for her to speak about her books at international schools here.

"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.

While her trip was being planned, The Lion Above The Door was nominated for the Red Dot Book Awards 2024, an initiative of the International School Libraries Network (ISLN) in Singapore that shortlists the best new books in several categories.

Ms Onjali has written eight children's books for those aged seven and up, with a total of nearly 1.4 million copies sold across physical, digital and audio formats.

She is also the founder of women's rights organisation Making Herstory and O's Refugee Aid Team, which supports refugee aid response teams.

In 2022, for her services to literature and women's rights, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, which recognises individuals for outstanding achievement or service to the community that has had a long-term, significant impact.

"My writing is driven by real-life people, situations, and issues that I know our children are aware of, can see, or have some experience of," she said, noting that the overarching theme throughout her stories is the courage to ask questions that must be asked.

"Whether it's racism, refugees, domestic violence, homelessness or war … I do what I do in hopes that somewhere, some day, a child, parent or teacher is going to finish one of my stories, and begin the discussions we need to happen if we're going to tackle those issues head on."

Her books can be found in public libraries across Singapore.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

ALSO READ: Taylor Swift sparks nostalgic fervour with maternal family's expat life in vintage Singapore