Born in 1950 in Singapore, Tan Chin Nam is a public figure best known as a government administrator who played prominent roles in the Ministry of Manpower, National Computer Board, Economic Development Board, Singapore Tourism Board, National Library Board, Media Development Board, and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. An arts policy maker who changed the way arts and culture was seen against the backdrop of national development, Tan championed arts and culture as active economic contributors and cultural capital. He campaigned for the development of Singapore arts and media industries, bringing prominence and recognition to the arts’ role in nation-building.

Born in pre-independence Singapore in 1950, Tan Chin Nam was already a keen amateur pianist as a young man in his early school years. He went on to obtain two engineering and economic degrees from Australia in 1972 and 1973 on Colombo Plan and President’s scholarships that ensured his first career steps in the Ministry of Defence. Through the 1980s, Tan garnered experience in various posts in economic and technology portfolios before a return to tourism and creative industries in the 1990s.

The idea of a cultural renaissance in Singapore clearly resonated with Tan, who even since his days as Chairman of the National Library Board (1995–2002), concretised this notion with the installation of a classical Florentine fountain in the old National Library courtyard to symbolise this cultural revitalisation; Florence, after all, was the birthplace of the Renaissance. While the fountain may have been a temporary physical symbol in the now-demolished old National Library, the equally iconic new National Library serves as a daily reminder of the direction Tan hoped to see arts and culture go in Singapore.

His time at the Ministry of Labour from 1998 to 2001 saw him guide the ministry in its transformation into the Ministry of Manpower. While there, he also led a task force that initiated the upgrading of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts to meet the future manpower needs of the arts sector. The plan was outlined in a paper, Creative Singapore – A Renaissance Nation in the Knowledge Age.

Upon joining the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts in 2002 as its Permanent Secretary in his subsequent move, Tan wasted no time furthering the arts cause. He oversaw the opening of the $600 million Esplanade theatres in the same year, and spearheaded Singapore Season festivals in London and China which brought together arts and commerce. He chaired a committee that laid the blueprint for Singapore’s creative industries which led to the formation of Media Development Authority and Design Singapore Council. This was a critical development that legitimised the creative industries’ contributions to Singapore’s socio-economic development and was integrated into the Economic Review Committee’s Report in 2002.

Various arts organisations in Singapore also benefited from Tan’s guidance and advice, as he served on the boards of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Dance Theatre, and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Tan also was the Chairman of the steering committee which oversaw the conception and establishment of the School of the Arts, and one of the first 15 charter members of the National Arts Council. Tan has also been recognised for his contributions to Singapore’s development in his careers across industries through many awards, including the Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Bar) in 2002 for reinventing the public library system.

Along the way, Tan never forgot his passion for piano playing. He found the time to occasionally indulge in this, and performed in a charity dinner concert with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1998, playing a medley of popular Broadway tunes.

Tan retired from civil service in 2007 and became a Senior Corporate Adviser serving on the boards of various public and private companies. He continues to have a hand in the arts and cultural landscape of Singapore as Chairman of the Media Development Authority International Advisory Panel and as a member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Council.