As an eye surgeon, he served as part of the Singapore Armed Forces' medical team in Riyadh during the Gulf War.
[1] Tay qualified for the 1977 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur after beating Mark Chan to win the 100-metre freestyle at the Singapore Open in Toa Payoh.
[4] In September 1982, Singapore Amateur Swimming Association (SASA) secretary Woon Sui Kut claimed that Tay had qualified for the 100-metre freestyle at the year's Asian Games with a time of 54 seconds.
[6] He was part of the SAF's Gulf War medical team who were based in the British Army Rear Hospital in Riyadh from January to March 1991.
[6] He subsequently went into private practice; in 2001, his clinic, Tay Eye Surgery, was sold to Pacific Healthcare Specialist Services (PHSS).
[7] A disciplinary tribunal convened by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) likewise found that Tay's actions "could not be characterised as a mere breach of an employment contract" and suspended him from 25 April to 24 July 2016.