Military career After completing his degree, Tan served in the
Singapore Army and was promoted to the rank of Major when he was 27. During his service, he was named Top Student for the Basic Army Intelligence Course, Company Tactics Course and Combat Engineer Advanced Officer Course. After nine years, he left the armed forces at the age of 31.
Business career In 1999, Tan and
Hazel Poa, his wife, established Smartlab Education Centre Pte Ltd, a chain of education centres. Tan was a recipient of the Spirit of Enterprise Award in 2006 and the company under his leadership was a recipient of a Singapore Prestige Brand Award (Promising Brand) in 2007.
Political career Tan and Poa joined the
Reform Party ahead of the
2011 general election and were slated to stand as candidates for the party in the election. However they were among six members of the party who resigned in February 2011 due to differences of opinion with the party's leaders. Tan and Poa then joined the
National Solidarity Party. In the 2011 general election, Tan and Poa were members of the party's five-person team which stood in the
Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency. The NSP's team lost to the team from the
People's Action Party (PAP) by 56,885 votes (38.8%) to 89,710 (61.2%). On 17 April 2025,
Progress Singapore Party announced Tan as its candidate for
Kebun Baru SMC during the
2025 general election. == Personal life ==