Tan Ping Koon (陈平坤 Chén Píngkūn; born 1968) is a Singaporean man who, together with Chua Ser Lien, was charged for the kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl for ransom during Christmas Day of 2003.

Despite selling off the flat to pay his debts, Tan remained incorrigible and persisted in his gambling habits, which caused his wife to live separately from him.

By December 2003, Tan had a debt totalling up to S$500,000, and he even ran off to Malaysia at one point to hide from loan sharks, but he returned for fear of leaving his daughter alone without care or safety in Singapore.

However, the abduction was witnessed by the girl's brothers and a catering assistant, who took down the license plate number and asked her husband to follow the car.

[15][16][17] On 6 September 2004, 35-year-old Tan Ping Koon and 42-year-old Chua Ser Lien stood trial at the High Court for the kidnapping of the seven-year-old girl.

From this, Anandan sought mercy for Tan and asked that he should not receive caning due to the victim's lack of injury and the relatively short period of time the girl was held hostage.

[2][26][27][28] On 9 September 2004, the trial judge Tay Yong Kwang of the High Court sentenced both Tan and Chua to life imprisonment and three strokes of the cane each.

Justice Tay also pointed out that while the men did release the girl shortly after the abduction, they did it not out of a change of heart but due to their "sheer hard luck", and they tried to extort money from the family under threats of their safety despite the failure.

He also found there was meticulous planning made by both men (especially Chua, the "more brainy one" in Justice Tay's words) to commit the crime since they discussed it for over a week and look for the right timing to strike.

[2][1][29] Before they were led away from the courtroom, Tan was allowed to speak to his daughter and younger sister, and he cried as he conversed with the two of them, while Chua, who had only one relative appearing in court, remained silent and calm during and after sentencing.

[30] When she was interviewed, Tan's estranged wife commented that if only her husband did not gamble, he would not have become heavily in debt and ended up having to serve his time in jail for the rest of his life.