Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is now free of prostate cancer after he underwent a surgery in February to remove his cancerous prostate gland.
63-year-old Lee, who is a two-time cancer survivor, said he had a follow-up blood test two weeks ago and the doctors gave me "an all-clear".
"Results were good," Lee said in his address to the nation on May Day.
He said that doctors told him at the follow-up blood test that his survival rate for prostate cancer is 98 per cent after 15 years.
"This means I am unlikely to die of prostate cancer," said the Prime Minister of one of the most prosperous city states in Asia.
Lee, however, said that in 15 years' time, he will be 78, and even if prostate cancer does not cause him trouble, something else could happen to him, so Singapore needs to form the next team of leaders to take the country forward, The Straits Times reported.
"The same risk applies to the other Cabinet ministers, which is why Singapore needs to form the next team of leaders to take the country forward," Lee said in the address on the Labour Day, celebrated by the city state as one of the official holidays applauding the country's workforce.
"Just because you are a minister doesn't mean you are superman, does not mean you won't get ill, doesn't mean you won't grow old," said Lee, adding that if his team is weakened by the loss of a minister, it would be more difficult for his Government to deliver the results that Singaporeans expect.
Lee, Prime Minister since 2004, underwent chemotherapy in 1992 for lymphoma, a cancer that develops from white blood cells, and it went into remission after successful treatment.
In his address, the Prime Minister also paid tribute to his late father, Lee Kuan Yew, for leading the development of Singapore for more than three decades.
Singapore's success is accorded to the hard work and tough decisions of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died on March 23, 2015, aged 91.
