One of the few: the remarkable life and times of a former Flying Tiger
95-year-old Ho Weng Toh, one of the few surviving members of the famed wartime air squadron, tells how he fled Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion, survived 18 bombing missions over China and is now writing his memoirs
"How many 95-year-olds do you know? I'm still able to go around independently at my age. I'm still relatively healthy and active. My mind is still sound, my memory is still good. To me, that's a freak," he insists.
The energetic senior citizen is halfway through writing a memoir of his "long and complicated" life, he says, which is an understatement.
One of the few surviving members of the Flying Tigers Sino-US allied squadron, Ho served as a bomber pilot during the second world war. In peacetime he became a pilot for the fledgling Malayan Airways and later Singapore Airlines, where he flew sultans and ministers, and trained scores of pilots.
Earlier this year, Ho received medals in both Beijing and Taipei for his wartime service at events to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. The packed schedule of parades, gala dinners and reunions has kept him so busy that he has fallen behind with writing his book, to be published by World Scientific.
No release date has been set, but Ho hopes that his story "can be a contribution to Singapore and society".
"People want me to write a book," he explains. "They say it's a waste if I don't record it. They wonder what kind of life I'm leading and they keep on asking me how I maintain my longevity. There's a lot of curiosity."