Despite suffering from a nerve disease, modern Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew insists that the ailment has not affected his mind and will.
"I have no doubt at all that this has not affected my mind, my will nor my resolve," he told local reporters on Sunday.
"People in wheelchairs can make a contribution. I've still got two legs, I make a contribution," he asserted.
The 88-year-old's daughter, National Neuroscience Institute director Lee Wei Ling, wrote in a Sunday Times column that the senior Lee suffers from sensory peripheral neuropathy, which impairs the conduction of sensation from his legs to his spinal cord, resulting in difficulty walking.
She added that her father's condition changes from day to day, and he trains his walking by going on the treadmill three times daily.
The former prime minister admitted that the problem started two years ago.
"At 86, many of my contemporaries are either in wheelchairs or not around. So I'm grateful to still be around at 86, although less steady than before.
"But as you see, one learns to adjust, and I take steps which are wider apart to maintain a sound balance," he said.
At a tree-planting ceremony at Tanjong Pagar GRC on Sunday, Lee appeared to walk steadily without the need for help.
He also managed to use a shovel, with help from Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing, reported The Straits Times.
"I have no doubt my father will fight his disease for as long as he thinks he can contribute to Singapore," Dr Lee wrote in her column.
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