Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong “took ill” halfway through the English segment of his National Day Rally speech tonight, and the live telecast was temporarily suspended. Watch the footage below as the camera pans away right after he was seen slurring his words and stumbling to the side.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean updated minutes later that PM Lee’s condition was stable and he would be completing his National Day Rally speech after a moment’s rest.
Speaking to the media, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that PM Lee had a fatiguing schedule of late, and that this incident was just a “little blip” in the run of things. The Prime Minister’s Office has assured that he did not have a stroke as many presumed — he was feeling unsteady due to “prolonged standing, heat and dehydration”.
At 10.40, PM Lee returned to stage to a long, rousing applause.
All smiles and filled with renewed energy, the Prime Minister joked about his little stumble — apparently it reminded him of his days on the parade square at the SAFTI Military Institute.
He assured the audience that the medical team gave him the all-clear. “They think I’m alright, but I’ll be having a full check-up after this,” he mentioned. He even alluded to the time when Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat suffered a stroke during a cabinet meeting in May, which was a far more serious episode than the Prime Minister’s stumble. He then gave a shout-out to the SCDF team who responded to Heng’s stroke — they had been invited to the National Day Rally.
“And I should say thank you to them because I invited them here as guests, and they came here to treat me just now,” he chuckled.
The National Day Rally then resumed from where it trailed off.
