Tan joined the family business after graduating from the University of Chicago, starting on the factory floor before stints in various departments, including in customer service and marketing. His two older brothers still work at Tan Chong.
“I lived under my grandfather’s shadow,” said Tan, who had bodyguards until he was 13 and whose chauffeur in Malaysia now spends most of the time taking jobs on GrabCar when he’s out of the country. “The name is established in the region and it was quite tiring.”
With GrabTaxi, “whether it will pay off financially or not, I don’t know,” he said. “I think that it’s not as important as knowing that this is my one shot at making a difference.”