\n<\/p>\n
Dr Tan began his speech with personal reflections on his time in the private sector.<\/span><\/p>\n Before entering politics, Dr Tan was a practising doctor. He founded Healthway Medical Group and was its CEO from 1993 to 2002. Under his leadership, the group expanded to 40 locations and achieved a turnover of S$20 million (US$15.8 million).<\/span><\/p>\n He was Group CEO and managing director of Parkway Pantai from 2010 to 2019, and was also Group CEO and managing director of IHH HealthCare Berhad from 2014 to 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOver the years, my responsibilities grew beyond the consult room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was privileged to lead healthcare organisations and businesses, with the opportunity to shape not just individual patient care, but healthcare systems that served hundreds of thousands of people,\u201d said Dr Tan, adding that the work was \u201cdeeply meaningful and fulfilling\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While intellectually challenging, the work also \u201crewarded me handsomely\u201d, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On why he eventually left that career behind, Dr Tan said there was no single defining moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a gradual but a growing inner realisation that whatever experience I had accumulated over those years in the private sector could perhaps be put to good use in a different way \u2013 not to change just a few lives at a time, or to build an organisation, but to give back to my country and my people.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo when the opportunity came to serve, I stepped forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Political office was more demanding, with longer hours, heavier responsibilities, and decisions subject to scrutiny, as well as little separation between public duty and private life, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But Dr Tan said he viewed public service as a special, but tough calling.<\/span><\/p>\n He added that the government was \u201cunlike any organisation\u201d he had ever worked in, with multi-faceted issues and difficult trade-offs having to be made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the learning curve was not just steep, it was humbling … It still is today,\u201d Dr Tan said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven after decades of experience in leadership, I find myself having to learn something new every single day \u2013 learning how the government really works, how policies intersect; learning to listen better, balancing competing interests; and learning the good intentions alone are never enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Dr Tan said he sometimes asks himself whether he had made the right choice in entering politics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n