Meet Singapore First F-16 Fighter Pilot Major Yusri Abu Bakar

Hello,

I want to share about a member of our Malay community whom I believe is a good example and many youngsters in our community look up to him as their idol and role model. He paved the way for us to dream big and give us hope that nothing is impossible.

He is MAJOR Yusri Abu Bakar the first Malay F-16 fighter pilot in the RSAF. Considering that only ONE in a thousand can make the cut to become a fighter pilot, he managed to overcome the odds stacked against him and show his ability to fly the war machine.

To earn his wings, Major Yusri had to go through 26 months of pilot training which included 11 months in France on the fighter plane. How many of us can endure and go through such long and tough training just to earn the right to be a pilot? After that only he can start his career as pilot. Because of this I really respect his hard work and belief.

Even though there are jealous people out there who will say this is about “batuk ditangga” but I hope they will change their mindset and not pull people who are successful down. For every one pilot who get his wings, 999 other pilot wannabeswho are Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian fail to become pilots. This is the reality of wanting to be a pilot where only the best can succeed.

On a side note, after Major Yusri, there are more up and coming fighter pilots like Captain Azlan Latiff and Captain Iskandar Muhammad who managed to earn their wings and protect our Singapore skies too. See how Major Yusri blazed the way for more of our Malay brothers to become pilots!