As promised, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong went for a full medical check-up following that fainting spell in the middle of his speech at the National Day Rally last night.
In case you didn’t know (who can blame you — National Day Rallies are a chore to sit through), PM Lee took ill on stage during the English segment of his speech. The whole thing was captured live, though the camera panned away right after he slurred his words and seemed to take a fall to his side.
Fortunately, it wasn’t anything serious — the Prime Minister’s Office stated that he was feeling unsteady due to “prolonged standing, heat and dehydration”. PM Lee returned to the stage cheerfully after a brief rest to resume his speech, and received a long standing ovation.
Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan took to his Facebook page to assure all that the Prime Minister simply had a “vasovagal episode”. According to the Internet, it just means that PM Lee briefly fainted due to a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure. It’s usually harmless and requires no treatment.
“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,” wrote Dr Balakrishnan. “Whilst the initial tests were being done, he was busy re-editing his speech!”
Tests were carried out on him at Singapore General Hospital, which turned out to be all good. It was only around 1.30am this morning that PM Lee called it a night after the check-up. Like any typical Singaporean, he probably refused to take MC today because he wants to reserve his off-days for a proper vacation.
