Ling Tan

Ling Tan
Ling Tan at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, New York City
Born	Tan Mang Ling (1974-10-09) 9 October 1974 (age 42) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nationality	Malaysian, of Chinese descent
Occupation	Fashion model
Modeling information
Height	(US) 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m) (EU) 177cm
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Dark Brown
Manager	ONE.1 MANAGEMENT (New York), Innovative Artists Talent And Literary Agency (New York), Elite Model Management (Paris and Toronto), Munich Models (Munich), Uno Models (Barcelona)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	陳曼齡
Simplified Chinese	陈曼龄
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chén Mànlíng Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tân Bānlîng

Tan Mang Ling (born 9 October 1974 in Kuala Lumpur), usually credited as Ling Tan, is a Malaysian supermodel, of Chinese descent, based in New York City. The first supermodel from Southeast Asia, she participated in hundreds of fashion shows and has been captured by top fashion photographers such as Richard Avedon, who photographed Tan for the Pirelli Calendar in 1997.

Tan was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is of Chinese ancestry. She has a younger sister who is also a model. Her father was a taxi driver and her mother a seamstress. She was educated in a Chinese school and speaks four varieties of Chinese as well as Malay and English. Tan also studied art and design before beginning her career as a model.

Her career started when she participated in a local competition, the Asian Model Search contest, in Malaysia, where she won first place in the Malaysian section. She then went on to become the first runner up in the international finals of the Asian Model Search contest in 1994.

Her first big break came when she was discovered at a small fashion show while waiting for a friend in a hotel lobby, by an advertising executive. Tan then appeared in an ad campaign for Tiger Beer. These commercials propelled Tan to success and she became the hottest model in Malaysia. European and American designers showing their collections in Malaysia were impressed with Tan’s talent and encouraged her to move to New York City.

Tan has been seen in hundreds of shows in New York, London, Milan, Rome and Paris. According to Fashion Model Directory, she appeared in over 30 shows in Fall 1997/Winter 1998 and Spring/Summer 1998.