What if… Two simple words that preface the speculative.The Prime Minister’s prime-time physical stumble last night raised the spectre of uncertainty – and the critical importance of leadership succession.
The incident turned the rally into one that showed, more dramatically than any speech, no matter how well crafted, the need for contingency.
When he tilted to his right, our collective hearts leapt into our throats. We feared for his well-being. We saw, in disbelief, how Mr Lee Hsien Loong, so calm, so capable, so authoritative, could be as fragile as the least of us.
Then, after the excruciatingly tight tension of worry and fears for the worst, sweet relief.
“Thank you for waiting for me,” he said to roaring approval from the audience at ITE College Central.
“I gave everyone a scare. The last time I did this, I was on a parade square in Safti and fainted.
“I think that’s what happened. I never had so many doctors looking at me all at once.
“They think I’m all right, but anyway I’m going to have a full check-up after this.”
The 80 minutes between his stumble and his return seemed an eternity.
Was it a stroke? A heart attack? No, said the PMO categorically.
It was unprecedented. And we were unprepared.
It underscored ministerial mortality, coming four months after Finance Minister Heng Swee Kiat’s stroke.
The Straits Times, Twitter screengrabs
For Singaporeans watching the rally, it was a bolt out of the blue; a reality check on a rally speech focused on getting real.
As Mr Lee said when he returned, referring to his resolve on the urgency and importance of preparing for succession: “Sui yue bu liu ren (time waits for no man). You cannot wait.”
Thankfully the fright was a false alarm. But it was a startling example of how anything can go awry so suddenly, shockingly, frighteningly if, as the PM emphasised, we are unprepared for a future fraught with what ifs…
This article was first published on August 22, 2016.
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