Singapore PM faints during National Day rally, ‘all well’

Singapore, August 22 

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong fainted while addressing a National Day Rally, shocking a live television audience, but officials today said all his tests during a precautionary checkup were "normal" even as he went on a medical leave for a week.

The 64-year-old leader, son of the city-state's late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, suddenly stopped speaking an hour into his speech and had to be assisted off the stage by cabinet ministers.

"The Prime Minister had taken ill during the National Day Rally due to a temporary drop in blood pressure, due to prolonged standing, exhaustion, and dehydration," the PMO said in a statement today. "Doctors have confirmed there were no cardiac abnormalities and no stroke."

Lee underwent a series of checks at Singapore General Hospital late yesterday as well as this morning. He will be on medical leave on the advice of doctors, resuming duties on August 29, the statement said. — PTI