Outpour of well-wishes online from Cabinet ministers, netizens

IN MINUTES the news spread like wildfire: Hundreds of posts and tweets appeared all over the Internet. The news: Singapore’s Finance Minister has just had a stroke and was now in the hospital receiving urgent care.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, who assumed the post last October and just recently announced the year’s Budget was in a cabinet meeting when he suffered a stroke this afternoon (May 12), said the Prime Minister’s Office.

In a statement released around 7pm, the office said: “Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Finance, collapsed during a Cabinet meeting this afternoon at 5.34pm. He was taken to hospital immediately. A CT scan showed that he had a stroke. Doctors are attending to him now.”The statement did not give further details of Mr Heng’s condition.

Minutes later, several Cabinet members took to Facebook to offer their prayers and to described what happened in those shocking moments.

Wrote Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at around 7.15pm on his Facebook page: “We were having our weekly Cabinet meeting just now when Heng Swee Keat suddenly collapsed. The doctors in Cabinet (we have three) attended to him immediately.We called an ambulance, which took him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

“A CT scan showed that he had had a stroke. Doctors are attending to him now. Hope Swee Keat will be alright – he is a valuable member of my team.”

Since the post was published, it has now been shared more than 500 times. Other messages quickly followed from other ministers, several of whom were in the room when it happened.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean posted this line on his Facebook page: “Praying for the recovery of our colleague Swee Keat.” And from Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, who is Minister of Social and Family Development: “Please keep Heng Swee Keat in our prayers.”

Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran wrote: “Deeply shocked and saddened. Swee Keat is a strong and determined man who has worked hard for Singapore. Let us all pray that he gets well soon and also pray for his family in this difficult period.”

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the incident shook up the Cabinet. “We managed to resuscitate him but he and his family will now need all our prayers and support as he undergoes critical procedures and treatment for the stroke. Let us together hope earnestly for his recovery.”

The well-wishes came speedily from netizens who posted on the minister’s Facebook pages and other media. Said Sharon Tan, who posted on the Prime Minister’s Facebook page: “Mr Heng is one of those ministers we pinned our hopes on to bring SG forward. Wish him a speedy recovery!”

Another user who posted a comment describing the former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a “gentleman”. “Minister Heng is a gentleman & he has Singaporeans in his heart. We hope & pray that he will recover soon,” wrote Yen Chua.

“Sad to hear of this news. We pray his condition is not serious and Mr Heng will recover soon. We wish him a speedy recovery!” said Susan Wee.

Mr Heng, 55, became Finance Minister last October. Before that he was the Education Minister from 2011. He was elected into Government in the 2011 General Election.

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- The Middle Ground