Feb 2, 2009
Most travelled S'porean
Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, has visited 174 countries and territories, including breakaway regions, in 16 years. -- PHOTO: TNP
A FORMER chief financial officer turned lecturer is officially Singapore's most-widely travelled person, the New Paper reported on Monday.
Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, has visited 174 countries and territories, including breakaway regions, in 16 years.
Last year, Mr Tan entered the Singapore Book of Records under the category of most Countries Travelled By A Single Person.
Each stamp in his passport tells a story: Mr Tan has been detained in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, mugged in Russia and Romania, got into scuffles in Cyprus and Liberia and survived riots in Burkina Faso, Africa.
The adjunct associate professor in accounting at the National University of Singapore shares his travel tales on his blog - www.weecheng.com - and in a 2004 book, The Greenland Seal Hunter.
Mr Tan, who usually travels solo, became fascinated with 'faraway and exotic places' through looking at maps and postage stamps as a kid. But his first backpacking trip came only after graduation at Nanyang Technological University.
'Then, slowly, Western Europe became Eastern Europe, then Middle East and Africa and the Pacific Islands,' Mr Tan told The New Paper.
Some, possible green with envy, have dismissed him as a 'country-collector', which Mr Tan shrugs off.
Today, most of his leave is used for travelling. His parents worry, but have accepted his wanderlust.
Before each trip, Mr Tan tried to learn about 30 words in the native language. Another tip: He tries never to look lost.
His globe-trotting in the last 16 years has earned him a world ranking of 110th of global travel website www.mosttraveledpeople.com and he looks set to improve it.
His next destination: Maybe Venezuela
'One day I hope to visit all the countries in the world,' he said.
Most travelled S'porean
Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, has visited 174 countries and territories, including breakaway regions, in 16 years. -- PHOTO: TNP
A FORMER chief financial officer turned lecturer is officially Singapore's most-widely travelled person, the New Paper reported on Monday.
Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, has visited 174 countries and territories, including breakaway regions, in 16 years.
Last year, Mr Tan entered the Singapore Book of Records under the category of most Countries Travelled By A Single Person.
Each stamp in his passport tells a story: Mr Tan has been detained in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, mugged in Russia and Romania, got into scuffles in Cyprus and Liberia and survived riots in Burkina Faso, Africa.
The adjunct associate professor in accounting at the National University of Singapore shares his travel tales on his blog - www.weecheng.com - and in a 2004 book, The Greenland Seal Hunter.
Mr Tan, who usually travels solo, became fascinated with 'faraway and exotic places' through looking at maps and postage stamps as a kid. But his first backpacking trip came only after graduation at Nanyang Technological University.
'Then, slowly, Western Europe became Eastern Europe, then Middle East and Africa and the Pacific Islands,' Mr Tan told The New Paper.
Some, possible green with envy, have dismissed him as a 'country-collector', which Mr Tan shrugs off.
Today, most of his leave is used for travelling. His parents worry, but have accepted his wanderlust.
Before each trip, Mr Tan tried to learn about 30 words in the native language. Another tip: He tries never to look lost.
His globe-trotting in the last 16 years has earned him a world ranking of 110th of global travel website www.mosttraveledpeople.com and he looks set to improve it.
His next destination: Maybe Venezuela
'One day I hope to visit all the countries in the world,' he said.
