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Singapore founder still on life support
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Singapore said yesterday that its founding leader Lee Kuan Yew is still on life support in hospital and being treated with antibiotics for severe pneumonia, after quashing rumors the 91-year-old had died.
“He remains sedated and on mechanical ventilation,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “His doctors have restarted him on antibiotics, and are continuing to monitor him closely.”
The update came after state-linked local media and government officials took to social media late Wednesday to debunk widespread rumors that the city-state’s patriarch had died.
Lee, who is widely credited with transforming Singapore from an economic backwater to a rich economy in just over three decades, was brought to the Singapore General Hospital on February 5 with severe pneumonia.
In general, a fresh dose of antibiotics and a prolonged reliance on mechanical ventilation are indications that the pneumonia is persisting, doctors said.
In the case of pneumonia, machine-assisted breathing “can be used to help the body recover and rest the respiratory muscles,” said Dr Leong Choon Kit, a local general practitioner.
Lee, who co-founded the People’s Action Party (PAP) which has governed Singapore uninterrupted since 1959, has slowed since his wife of 63 years Kwa Geok Choo died in 2010.
His last high-profile public appearance was in November, when he received a standing ovation at the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PAP.
In a newspaper column in 2011, the Asian statesman’s physician daughter Lee Wei Ling revealed that he had been battling a neurological disease.
The Cambridge-educated lawyer served as prime minister from 1959, when Singapore gained self-rule from Britain, until he stepped down in 1990.
His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is the current prime minister.
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