By Ng Tze Yong

HE'S an intrepid traveller who can boast more than a passport-full of stamps and a good travel tale.

Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, is also officially Singapore's most widely-travelled person.

Last year, he entered the Singapore Book of Records under the category of Most Countries Travelled By A Single Person. (Yes, there is such a record.)

He has visited 174 countries and territories, including breakaway regions which are not recognised internationally.

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 road accidents in Albania and riots in Burkina Faso, Africa.

At one border crossing which he reached by bus in South America, he found he was the only passenger who was not an illegal immigrant.

The others just crossed a river to go across, and when Mr Tan alone went to the legal checkpoint, he had to wake up the immigration officers, who, rarely having to stamp any passports, were enjoying a snooze. (See other report.)

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 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 graduating with an accounting degree from the Nanyang Technological University in 1993, to the relatively tame destination of Western Europe.

'Then, slowly, Western Europe became Eastern Europe, then Middle East and Africa,' said Mr Tan.

'My threshold of what's dangerous increased with each trip.'

Now, he has been to most countries in the world except Canada, New Zealand and some in Africa and the Pacific islands.

Mr Tan, who used to be an investment banker in London and the chief financial officer of a small listed company, did much of his travels during two career breaks, which both lasted about a year.

Today, most of the bachelor's annual leave is used for travelling.

Some, possibly green with envy, have dismissed him as a 'country-collector', which Mr Tan shrugs off.

Travelling solo

'It depends on how you look at it,' he said.

'There are places where I spend more than a month and others as little as a day... not everyone has the luxury to spend extensive time in a single country.

'But the important thing is whether one bothers to appreciate things in the short time one has in each country.'

Most of the time, he travels solo.

His parents worry, but have accepted his wanderlust.

Said Mr Tan's 71-year-old father, Mr Tan Kiah Hoon, a retired Chinese teacher: 'Everyone has his or her dream to chase. I had mine too when I was young.

' So as parents, while we worry, we also give him our support.'

Before each trip, Mr Tan tries to learn about 30 words in the native language.

'But English alone can already get you to many places off the beaten track,' he said.

'If you meet someone who is below 40 and educated, they should be able to speak at least a little English.'

Another tip: He tries never to look lost.

'Standing on a street corner staring at a travel guide can attract a lot of unwanted attention,' he said.

Visas don't always come easy in places that don't even exist on official world maps, and usually require 'a little innovation', said Mr Tan.

Mr Tan had sometimes listed his job on immigration forms as a consultant, though he was travelling on his career breaks and thus, technically unemployed.

Sometimes, he would also pay local businesses to write him a letter of invitation, before his arrival.

'It's not a bribe, it's an accepted practice in some places and even travel companies and government agencies tell you to do it,' said Mr Tan.

'It's just easier to get in on a business visa.'

His globe-trotting in the last 16 years has earned him a world ranking of 110th on global travel website www.mosttraveledpeople.com, and he looks set to improve on it.

His next destination: Maybe Venezuela.

'One day, I hope to visit all the countries in the world,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Feb 2, 2009.