SR Nathan in ICU because of stroke.
Former Singapore President Sellapan Ramanathan (SR Nathan) is currently in critical condition after a stroke on Sunday morning.
The Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement that the former president was admitted in the intensive care unit of the Singapore General Hospital. Nathan had his first Stoke attack last year but he managed to recover through a therapy.
SR Nathan, now 92, is the sixth and the longest-serving president in Singapore who served two terms from 1999 to 2011. He did not have interest to run for another term and current President Tony Tang succeeded him.
Nathan began his career in the Singapore Civil Service as a medical social worker in 1955. He was appointed Seamen’s Welfare Officer the following year. In 1962, he was seconded to the Labour Research Unit of the Labour Movement, first as Assistant Director and later as Director of the Labour Research Unit until January 1966. He continued as a Member of its Board of Trustees until April 1988.
During the presidential elections in 1999, a survey showed that nearly 80 percent of Singaporeans hoped for a contest, but Nathan was elected unopposed as President on 18 August 1999. His nomination was strongly supported by Lee Kuan Yew. He succeeded the fifth President of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, and was sworn in on 1 September 1999.
After Nathan’s appointment as President of Singapore, he took interest in building a caring society for the nation. He started the President’s Challenge initiatives in 2000. The initiative has been a success so far, raising over $80 million for more than 400 of its beneficiaries.
On 1 July 2011, he announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office as President. He cited age as one of the reasons, as he did not believe he could undertake indefinitely the heavy responsibilities and physical demands of the position of Head of State at 87 and he left office on 1 September 2011, succeeded by President-elect, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam. A few weeks later, his book, “An Unexpected Journey—Path to the Presidency”, was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
In 2012, the Indian government conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman to Nathan in recognition of his contribution in building closer links between Singapore and India. On 8 August 2013, Nathan was conferred the Order of Temasek, First Class.