A Morning with Dr Tan
First published by Spoilt Zine on May 17, 2025.
Spoilt is an independent zine by first-time voters, documenting the general election as we had seen it.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock is a political stalwart. For years, he was known for speaking against government policies, even voting against the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) scheme in 1992, despite the party whip. Dr Tan remains a mainstay of Singaporean politics even after retiring from Parliament in 2006, with his candidacy for the 2011 Presidential Election and his founding of PSP in 2019.
A week before he turned 85, the SPOILT team spent a morning with Dr Tan at his house and a media event to introduce PSP candidates at Teck Whye. We spoke about his legacy, his motivations, the new generation of politicians and more.
Dr Tan spoke to us while having his breakfast — coffee and half-boiled eggs, at the dining table.
Displayed around his house are memorabilia of his political and medical career. It is a museum in its own right — one glance and you would see photo collages made by his supporters, a signboard from his Ama Keng clinic and a life-size standee of Dr Tan in his younger years.
Inside his “war room”, we found posters from his past election campaigns, newspaper cuttings with reports concerning Dr Tan and photos of him at work, which slowly grew beyond his medical practice.
“When you see things in the environment that is not good, you must make an effort to get it better,” Dr Tan said. He brought up the time when he coordinated efforts at Ama Keng village to control nephritis by asking teachers to keep a lookout for symptoms among their students. Eventually, he went beyond his role as a doctor as he sorted out disputes, wrote letters to government departments and even did repair work for free.
“I think I’m not only a doctor, I’m also like a social worker [at the village],” Dr Tan said. Just a week shy of his 85th birthday at the time of our interview, he could have been living a relaxed life, detached from the cutthroat political arena. Yet, he remains.
“I’m just a conduit for change, and I feel that I have the knowledge, I have the history, and it’s good for me to share,” said Dr Tan, as we headed towards Teck Whye where he would announce the PSP candidates for Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Bukit Gombak Single Member Constituency (SMC).
Soon, we reached Teck Whye, where Dr Tan’s clinic used to be.
“It’s always nostalgic when you go back to an old place where you practice, and that’s reinforced by the people,” Dr Tan said.
As he led the party through the neighbourhood, people who identified as his former residents or patients came up to greet him. This was telling of his work and legacy as a doctor and a politician. These conversations were not necessarily about politics or the looming elections. Instead, they felt more like a series of catch-up meetings.
“I like it because when I meet them, we talk in a language that young people don’t understand,” Dr Tan added, referring to Hokkien.
With his departure from electoral politics, a younger breed of politicians is necessary for a post-Tan Cheng Bock PSP. Dr Tan, tapping into his wealth of experience, steps in to guide his younger party members whenever he notices an issue. Yet, he believes that he cannot impose his beliefs on others, and instead, allows them to stumble before he steps in.
For those who are not politically engaged, Dr Tan feels there is more he can do. “I've got to instil in the younger chaps the importance of participating in politics so that they have a stake in this country,” he said, “I don’t want them to be so apathetic and just wait for everything to come to them.”
Dr Tan understands that people want to criticise the government, yet he believes that it is unfair unless they consider what roles they can play in the country. There is a need to be actively involved in national matters, he added, and to see how Singapore is growing and how changes around the world are affecting us.
“This country must be managed by everybody,” he said.
At 85, his priority remains focused on making Singapore a better place to live, even if it means forgoing a simple retired life. After decades spent serving in Parliament and fighting as an opposition candidate, Dr Tan still sees a need for him to remain politically engaged and present. Despite his age, he is not moving on yet.
“I will move on, but so long as I’m relevant, I can give inputs, that means I’m still okay,” Dr Tan said.