Singapore — Known to have been close friends once, Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Mr Goh Chok Tong recently attended the same scouting event at Raffles Institution, indicating that they were likely from the same CCA as well.
In a Facebook post on Monday (Apr 12), Dr Tan, Chairman of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), wrote that he had a very busy weekend at the start of April.
“I attended a Scouting event at my old alma mater RI, where I caught up with old friends and made new ones and the very next day, PSP held a press conference announcing the new Central Executive Committee of the Progress Singapore Party”, he wrote.
What stood out was that in many of the photos Dr Tan shared, his former schoolmate Mr Goh was present.
Dr Tan also referred to the scouting event as a chance to catch “up with old friends”, a phrase often used by Mr Goh to describe RI alumni reunion events.
In the photos, both Dr Tan and Mr Goh were seen wearing scouts’ neckerchiefs
In 2019, in his first public comment on Dr Tan since the latter’s Progress Singapore Party was formed, Mr Goh said: “Tan Cheng Bock was my classmate in Raffles Institution. I have known him close for over 60 years. It saddens me to see how he has ‘lost his way’.”
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In February 2021, despite a relationship that seemed fraught with political tension from the past year, Mr Goh Chok Tong and Dr Tan Cheng Bock met for dinner one weekend.
On Feb 19, Mr Goh posted on social media about how he and then Progress Singapore Party (PSP) secretary-general Tan met with old RI classmates the previous day (Feb 18) as part of their Chinese New Year tradition.
He also shared a photo of the dinner where Dr Tan was seated on his left with Dr Tan’s wife Cecilia Lee beside him.
Mr Goh shared photos of his friends and added: “As true friends, we will always have each other’s best interest at heart”.
Dr Tan was one of the three people, apart from the immediate family, allowed to visit the former PM when he underwent surgery for prostate cancer five years ago. /TISG