Tan Chay Yan (1871 - 6 March 1916) was a rubber plantation merchant and philanthropist. A Peranakan, Tan is the grandson of philanthropist Tan Tock Seng by his father, Tan Teck Guan. Tan was noted in Malayan history as the first man to plant rubber on a commercial basis, after he was introduced to rubber planting by Henry Nicholas Ridley. Subsequently, Tan started a 22 acre rubber estate at Bukit Lintang. He then ventured his rubber plantation business into Sri Lanka. According to his family, Tan's rubber plantation still belonged to the family. As a philanthropist, Tan also gave $15,000 towards the setting up of a medical college in Singapore. The donation went towards the construction of the Tan Teck Guan Building, which Tan named in memory of his late father. Tan also served as a Municipal Councillor and a Trustee of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple. There is a variety of orchid named Papilionanda (originally Vanda) Tan Chay Yan, a hybrid bred by Tan's son Robert Tan Hoon Siang. A road in Melaka was also named after him in view of his contributions to the country's revenue. Tan died of malaria at the age of 46. A relative believed he could have caught it as he often spent the long hours spent at the rubber plantations. Tan left behind his wife, Chua Wan Neo, a tenth generation Nyonya, six daughters and a son. For memorizing his contributions, there is a road called Chay Yan Street as named after him in Tiong Bahru, Singapore.