Tan Cheng Bock gives his clearest indication yet that he will enter active politics in 2019

Dr Tan Cheng Bock has given his clearest indication yet that he will enter active politics in 2019. Dr Tan wrote on Facebook this afternoon that he is retiring from his medical career and that he is “switching from serving patients to serving the people.”

Sharing that he has decided to hang up the stethoscope for good, Dr Tan said that “the country and the peoples’ welfare are my top priority” and that he looks forward to “serving Singapore in a new way”:

“In these last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting many of these old patients who came to wish me well. They asked me what I plan to do, now that I have retired from medicine.

“I tell them that retirement is not an option for me I am merely switching my role from serving patients to serving people. I always say that medicine is my love, but politics is my calling.

“The country and the peoples’ welfare are my top priority.

“I look forward to serving Singapore in a new way in this new season of life.”

Dr Tan’s post has already garnered more than 3000 likes since he shared his decision on social media two hours ago. Read his post in full here:

https://www.facebook.com/TanChengBock/posts/2332998713441317?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARC05eSjTKoPd0vd31jJQFOcS-Jo3TJOrxQ9PJxXdSz4y9mbm0v9d39goijbSZyS_3BQ0ZFRNza8lpYcXWoOaNtl0ALGj6UGeB3Iy2-baik-YTJLYUTCxuOf3oR5dtJFxqbpE0qKblinM8FONPbsR4qlx9f10HBhhtM2gmetGq2D0pZsbpB9Pav01RSHkoxovw5HH94lmRvOIbXe1tzRieT_BmdFK1vDydGSV4VT6T8RsDS-0ZHY0iWychYAZ5zmHXCqirl1ni7reGZA2TF3BjexhIXeBSBbubBJ7GNOy3Fez-tgOqJ3Ax44_KvD7tXDtx7N3yLRXjhKulidY-gpLmT_hw&__tn__=-R

In case you cannot read the above:

“Hanging up my stethoscope

“After a fruitful 50 years as a doctor, I hang up my stethoscope today for good.

“Practising medicine is one of my great joys in life. I especially remember with fondness, my time as a village doctor in Lim Chu Kang. I opened my clinic “Ama Keng Clinic ” in 1971 in a village of attap and zinc roof houses. Its villagers grew vegetables in small plots and reared pigs in their backyards. Water came from wells and standpipes. Lighting was poor as most homes did not have electricity. Only a single main road was lit. But the villagers managed with kerosene lamps – and I once even delivered a baby in the dim kerosene lamp light.

“The villagers were simple, honest people – many struggling to make ends meet. So I became more than a doctor, by helping them in family feuds, land disputes and writing letters to government departments. Those were such interesting times!