After his completing his national service, Tan enrolled in King's College London, studying an undergraduate degree in physics.
He later left the course to study law instead, subsequently training at Gray's Inn.
[1] Tan worked as a lawyer for more than twenty years—becoming the group head of legal and compliance at Standard Chartered Bank as well as a member of the Competition Appeal Board of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
[2][3] In 2010, Tan began a career transition out of the legal profession and started his own wine bar.
[4] Tan is currently a wine consultant at St Pierre, a two-Michelin star French restaurant in Singapore,[5][6] and has curated pairing lists for two-Michelin star Japanese restaurant Shoukouwa.