Koh Poh Koon to return to healthcare as a surgeon
In a social media post, Dr Koh thanked his former colleagues at the Ministry of Health after a farewell lunch on Tuesday (Jun 2).
MP Koh Poh Koon, standing with Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung, at his farewell event on Jun 2, 2026. (Photo: Facebook/Koh Poh Koon)
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SINGAPORE: Dr Koh Poh Koon, who recently relinquished his key appointments of Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, will return to a career in healthcare as a surgeon.
In a social media post on Tuesday (Jun 2), Dr Koh thanked his former colleagues at the Ministry of Health (MOH), including Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How and Minister of State for Health Rahayu Mahzam, after a farewell lunch.
"As I leave MOH and go back to healthcare as a surgeon, I hope our paths will cross again as we work to support the healthcare needs of Singaporeans," he said on Tuesday.
When his resignation was announced by the Prime Ministerâs Office on May 22, Dr Koh, who is a colorectal surgeon by training, said that his family needed his attention in a manner "not compatible" with the demands of political office, adding that it was time to "better support" his wife and "do what is right" for his family.
He said on social media then that he had "been an absent husband, father and son" since stepping into politics in 2015.
Dr Koh first contested as a Peopleâs Action Party candidate in the 2013 Punggol East by-elections, losing to Workersâ Partyâs Lee Li Lian.
At the General Election in 2015, he won as part of the PAP team in Ang Mo Kio GRC and became an MP.
In 2020, he joined the Tampines GRC team and contested in the same constituency in the 2025 election.
Dr Koh will remain a member of parliament for Tampines GRC. His resignation officially took effect on Monday.
