A fascination for colours is what helped Vishan Rajasekaran earn an entry into the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for Most Number of International Flags Identified in 15 Minutes By a Child.
The four-year-old from Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, who is only just learning to read and write, successfully identified the flags of 147 countries within that time, a feat that may prove challenging even for adults.
The only child to Dr G. Rajasekaran, 40, and homemaker Angila Raju, 30, Vishan has become so good at memorising colours that he can easily name the national flags of all the countries in the world.
His love for all things colourful began when he was a toddler.
"When he was about two, he would always ask us about the colours of the food on his plate and when we had visitors, he would ask what's the colour of the clothes they wore.
"So just to keep him occupied, I bought a set of cards featuring 10 flags of different countries in the world. Within days, he could already tell us the flags the countries belonged to just by their colours," said Dr Rajasekaran, adding that Vishan has also won several push bike and strider bike racing competitions for children both locally and in Singapore.
Eventually, Dr Rajasekaran obtained the cards of flags of all the countries and territories and Vishan would pore over them before bedtime every night.
Within a short time, the boy could recite the names of each country and this prompted Dr Rajasekaran to contact MBR to put him to the test.
In a virtual session held in July, Vishan managed to randomly identify 147 country flags within 15 minutes, which is a new record.
Dr Rajasekaran believed that if the session was held face-to-face, Vishan would be able to do even better.
Vishan was also put to the test recently during an interview at The Star office in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
Apart from having some difficulties pronouncing names of countries such as Ethiopia, Mauritania and Madagascar, young
Vishan was full of confidence as he swiftly swiped through the different flags on a tablet, naming the countries accordingly.Dr Rajasekaran said his son, who enjoys watching cartoons and shows on Astro's Ceria channel for children simply because they are colourful, can now identify the planets in the solar system.
"I recently bought a DIY colouring set of the solar system and he can already tell the planets that orbit the sun although he has yet to read and write.
"In fact, he can also tell the flags of local political parties now by just looking at their logos," he said, adding that the boy also liked playing with colourful Beyblade toys.
When asked what is next for Vishan, Angila said she wants him to have a good grasp of Bahasa Malaysia and English.
"We also hope to take him to visit interesting places like the National Planetarium so that he will have a better understanding of things which will help shape his thinking," she added.
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