While our remaining Parliamentarians will be attending the National Day Parade (NDP) at the Padang today (9 Aug), one Cabinet Minister will sadly miss the event.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong will be spending the NDP in hospital.
This is after he was diagnosed with a severely blocked artery.
Source: Edwin Tong on Facebook
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (8 Aug), Mr Tong said he went for a routine health check recently.
Shockingly, his doctors found that he had a blocked coronary artery — the largest blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart.
Worse still, it was judged to be “severely blocked”. This put him at some risk.
The diagnosis was a shock to him, the Marine Parade MP said.
That’s because he’s neither diabetic nor a smoker and has maintained good cholesterol levels.
He also takes part in daily activities and exercise, he added.
Source: Edwin Tong on Facebook
On top of that, he didn’t experience any symptoms or discomfort at all, nor did he have any specific risk factors for the condition.
Following some discussion on the course of action, Mr Tong underwent an angiogram – a scan that shows blood flow – on Tuesday.
This was followed by an angioplasty — a procedure that unclogs the artery and inserts a stent (a kind of tube) so the blood can flow better.
He’s grateful to his doctors and nurses for looking after him well.
While he was in hospital, his children even sent him a cute little bear.
Source: Edwin Tong on Facebook
Due to his condition, Mr Tong will unfortunately be spending this year’s NDP in hospital.
He’ll be sure to catch it on TV though, and will cheer the Red Lions through the TV screen.
Besides that, he will also take things a little slower for the time being as he recuperates, he said.
That means he’ll be working from home as much as possible.
He has already missed a few events over the last couple of days as doctors have advised him not to overexert himself.
He thus apologised to Singaporeans and event organisers for any inconvenience caused due to his absence.
Mr Tong said this incident is a reminder that we shouldn’t take our health for granted and go for regular health checks.
He supposed that he was “feeling a little more tired” than usual, but had put it down to his busy schedule.
So it’s fortunate that his condition was picked up in time, he added.
Unfortunately, Mr Tong isn’t the only Parliamentarian who has had a health scare recently.
Last month, Bukit Panjang MP Liang Eng Hwa said he had been diagnosed with nose cancer. This would cause him to undergo treatment for close to two months.
And just last week, Tampines MP Baey Yam Keng said he had three benign polyps removed after going for a colonoscopy.
In January 2022, Mr Baey also revealed that he was diagnosed with nose cancer.
MS News wishes Mr Tong and the other MPs a swift recovery.
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Featured image adapted from Edwin Tong on Facebook and Facebook.
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