Heng in stable condition, to stay in ICU for some time

SINGAPORE — Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who suffered a stroke during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday (May 12), is in a stable condition, but will remain in the intensive care unit for some time, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Mr Heng is in “very good hands”, added Mr Lee in a Facebook update on Friday, as support and get-well wishes for the minister continued to pour in, with members of the public leaving flowers and cards at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

Religious leaders also gathered to pray for Mr Heng’s recovery in an interfaith session attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

In his Facebook post, Mr Lee said he visited Mr Heng, who was sedated, at the hospital on Friday evening.

“His condition is stable, but he will remain in the ICU for some time,” he wrote. “He is in very good hands, like all patients at the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI).”

In a Facebook post shortly after, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he was glad Mr Heng’s condition was stable, but “these are early days, and he will need close monitoring in the ICU for quite some time more”.

Dr Balakrishnan added that Mr Heng’s wife Chang Hwee Nee, a deputy secretary at the National Development Ministry, and their children were “holding up well” and grateful for the prayers and support.

At TTSH on Friday, visitors brought cards, flowers and chicken essence, among other items, placing their gifts for Mr Heng at the hospital’s Heritage Museum, where tables had been set up.

Ms Shirley Wong, chairman of the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation, worked with Mr Heng before and after the 2016 Budget in March, and found him to be “a very sincere and ... down-to-earth minister”.

“In my interactions with him, I can feel that he really has a heart for the business (fraternity). He understands the economic situation of the businesses and I’m really saddened to hear of his sickness,” said Ms Wong as she held back tears during her visit to TTSH on Friday.

Also spotted at TTSH was Mr A R Jumabhoy, the former chairman of Scotts Holdings, now the Ascott Limited. Mr Jumabhoy had met Mr Heng on Tuesday at a meeting of the National Youth Achievement Award Association advisory board, which the minister chairs, and said he was “in great form”.

Describing Mr Heng as a “brilliant” man, he said: “I didn’t realise until I read in the papers there was so much work that he has been doing and (in) so many fields, so I thought I had to come here.”

In the evening, religious leaders from 10 faiths came together to pray for Mr Heng’s recovery in a session arranged by the Inter-Religious Organisation. Speaking at the session, Mr Tharman said Mr Heng represented the “best in Singapore”, someone “we all aspire to be”.

“(He is) humble, someone who’s able to overcome adversity, in his case early in life, and someone who has the ability to work with everyone — people of different faiths ... different ethnic groups, people from all walks of life,” he said.

With the love of his family and the prayers of the nation, Mr Heng “will recover”, said Mr Tharman, adding: “We look forward to when he’s back with us.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng, who was also at the session, said various members of the Cabinet have been assisting Mr Heng’s family.

The family has been “politely declining any visits” as Mdm Chang wants Mr Heng to rest, and they also needed time to deal with the situation.

“Now the best thing I think is for us to ... wish him and the family well and ... let the family take care of Mr Heng,” said Mr Baey, who is Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC alongside Mr Heng.

Dr Lee Kim En, a senior consultant neurologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said that following an aneurysm, it is “critical” for doctors to prevent further bleeding within the first 24 hours.

After that, doctors need to ensure enough support is given to the patient while the brain recovers.

“This period of time in the ICU may be as short as three to five days, or realistically it may take 10 days to three weeks in the ICU for the doctors to ensure that everything is stable,” said Dr Lee.

Older patients might also take a longer time to bounce back — typically from a few weeks to a few months for a proper recovery — which could be prolonged if the patient has existing medical conditions.

“When an injury is sustained to the brain, it needs time to recover … It’s not a switch that you can turn on and off ... It takes time to reboot the system,” said Dr Lee, who is also an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

The NNI said on its website that up to a third of stroke patients recover fully, while the remaining will have some disability. Most recovery occurs in the first three to six months, but it may continue slowly for many years. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TOH EE MING