PM Lee’s medical tests ‘all normal’: Vivian Balakrishnan
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking at the National Day Rally. Screengrab from YouTube.
Update at 3.35pm: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that PM Lee Hsien Loong will be on medical leave from now till 29 August. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will cover the duties of the Prime Minister in his absence. PMO added that Lee’s medical checks at the Singapore General Hospital early this morning confirmed that there were no cardiac abnormalities and no stroke.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been given the all-clear by doctors after taking ill during the National Day Rally on Sunday (21 August), said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Balakrishnan said that the Prime Minister had a vasovagal episode, or a fainting spell caused by a brief lack of blood supply to the brain, typically seen in individuals who have been standing for long periods.
Lee had been speaking for about 90 minutes when he stumbled and fainted on stage. He resumed speaking after more than an hour’s delay.
The 64-year-old prime minister assured the audience that it was nothing serious, but added that he would be going for a full check-up immediately after the rally just to be sure.
In a
, Balakrishan admitted that he and his colleagues had been rattled by Lee’s fall. “My initial thought was ‘Oh no, not again’”, wrote the minister in apparent reference to Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who collapsed from a stroke during a Cabinet meeting in May.
“When we rushed up on stage, we found PM Lee fully conscious but having classic symptoms and signs - sweatiness, low heart rate and low blood pressure. The initial light headedness resolved within minutes, and I knew he just wanted to get back on stage to complete his speech.”
Balakrishnan added, “Whilst the initial tests were being done, he was busy re-editing his speech!”
After the National Day Rally, which ended at about 11.30pm, Lee went to Singapore General Hospital for more tests before calling it a night at about 1.30am.
