Sengkang MP Jamus Lim in hospital with pneumonia

SINGAPORE – What began as a noticeable sniffle in Parliament last week has escalated into a hospital stay for Sengkang MP Jamus Lim, who has been hospitalised for “full-blown” pneumonia after catching Influenza A.

In a Facebook post on the morning of Oct 12, the Workers’ Party MP said he had initially intended to take only the remainder of the week off.

However, he had to check into a hospital over the weekend after his blood oxygen level had fallen to the low 90s.

Addressing his constituency’s residents, he referenced a video of him sniffling away in Parliament last week.

In that clip, Lim was observed sniffling away while delivering a speech in Parliament on Oct 6. PAP MP Diana Pang (Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC) was seen coming to his aid with a tissue.

He said in his post: “As it turns out, that sniffling eventually developed into a bad case of Influenza A, before culminating in full-blown pneumonia.

“All that to say, while I’m still stuck here, I am unable to attend to my regular MP duties. This includes tonight’s meet-the-people session, as well as our weekly house visits, estate walks, and coffeeshop chit-chats.

“My capable #TeamSengkang volunteers have kindly agreed to #StepUp, and so MPS will go ahead as usual. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can on the back end to clear all appeal letters and to catch up on my e-mail backlog, but I thank you for your patience in the meantime.”

His post was accompanied by a photo that read “Temporarily Out of Service”.

Daniel Lai is a journalist at the ST Now team, covering breaking news and international affairs.