Could this doctor be PAP's candidate in Punggol East?

Dr Koh Poh Koon, a 40-year-old colorectal surgeon, is being tipped as PAP's candidate for Punggol East.

Intentionally or not, the party dropped a giant clue when Dr Koh showed up in the ward on Tuesday night for a Meet-the-People Session. He helped Mr Teo Ser Luck distribute food rations to the needy and then accompanied the Minister of State for Trade and Industry to meet residents.

Though Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has not indicated whether he will call a by-election or not, the appearance of a possible candidate on the ground has heightened speculation that polls are imminent.

Dr Koh said he was there as a volunteer and when asked if he was the ruling party's candidate, he shrugged it off with a smile.

He explained that he was helping Mr Teo, an MP for the neighbouring Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC who was looking for more Teochew-speaking volunteers like himself. The two, he said, play football together.

Mr Teo described the doctor as one of "a couple of" good friends who volunteered to help him, as they knew he was straddling the work of two constituencies.

Dr Koh is a highly-qualified doctor. He is the medical director and consultant colorectal surgeon of Capstone Colorectal Surgery Centre at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre and also one of four surgeons helming the Novena Colorectal Centre and Fortis Hospital for Colorectal Diseases in Adam Road.

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