Tan Lark Sye

Tan Lark Sye
Born	1897 China
Died	11 September 1972 Singapore
Known for	Nanyang University
Relatives	Tan Eng Joo

Tan Lark Sye (simplified Chinese: 陈六使; traditional Chinese: 陳六使; pinyin: Chén Lìu Shǐ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân La̍k-sái; 1897 - 11 September 1972) was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist active in Singapore.

Tan was born in a poor Hoklo family in Fujian, China. He migrated to Singapore at 18.

In Singapore, Tan worked in one of Tan Kah Kee's factories, and within half a year he was promoted to a responsible position in Tan Kah Kee's Khiam Aik (Qianyi) company. Not long afterward, he left the company to set up a rubber enterprise with the help from his brothers, but the enterprise lost half its capital in a year.

Tan then ran it alone and after several years, he built up his Aik Hoe (Yihe) rubber company and became one of the leading rubber industrialists of the region. He expanded his business to all parts of Malaya, Thailand and India and diversified into insurance, paper and cement industries. His career as an industrialist peaked in the 1950s, when his company reaped huge profits from the rising price of rubber.

Tan was an activist, and like other entrepreneurs of his time, he believed in the value of education. As chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the 1950s, he fought for citizenship for Chinese people in Singapore and for the Chinese language to be one of Singapore's official languages.

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