Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat suffered from a stroke during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday (May 12) and is now in a stable condition after a successful surgery.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who visited Heng at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Friday evening (May 13), said that Heng "will remain in the ICU for some time".

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is covering Heng's as Finance Minister, told the media at the gathering of religious leaders praying for Heng's recovery:

"Swee Keat represents the best in all of us: humble, someone who is able to overcome adversity - in his case - early in life. Someone who has the ability to work with everyone, people of different faiths, people of different ethnic groups, people from all walks of life. He represents the best in Singapore - something we all aspire to be."

DPM Tharman had also praised Heng on Thursday, calling him "one of Singapore’s finest sons, and a leader with much promise".

Below are five memorable speeches and essays written by Minister Heng in his political career so far:

1. "Mr Lee's Red Box", March 24, 2015

i. Lee Kuan Yew had a red box: When Heng worked as Lee's Principal Private Secretary, a good part of his daily life revolved around the red box. In fact, the locked red box would arrive before Lee came in to work.

ii. The red box held what Lee was working on at any one time: Through the years, it held his papers, speech drafts, letters, readings, and a whole range of questions, reflections, and observations. For example, in the years that Lee was working on his memoirs, the red box carried the multiple early drafts back, scribbled over with his and Mrs Lee’s notes.

iii. Story about the red box: In 1996, Lee underwent his second heart operation in two months. When he regained consciousness, he asked for his security team to pass him the red box. Lee continued to use his red box every day until 4 February 2015, a day before he was admitted to hospital.

2. Speech after the Sabah earthquake, at the Institute of Technical Education Graduation Ceremony on 12 June 2015

i. Tribute to the MOE staff and the teachers and students from Tanjong Katong Primary School: Heng urged his colleagues, teachers and family members to "honour the spirit of our students and teachers who challenged themselves to be at their best". Heng praised his staff for the "steely determination to tackle the many challenges, to do all that we can to bring as many students and teachers back safely as possible".

ii. "To be someone's child": Heng said that to be someone's child is to "come from a place of love", where there are people who believe in him or her, particularly his/her families and his/her teachers. It is also to "live a life of meaning and purpose, with integrity and gratitude, so that others too, can live such lives".

iii. "To be someone's parent": Heng said that "to be a parent is to be prepared to put our child’s happiness before our own". Heng added that being a parent means to believe in our children and to love someone more that one love himself or herself.

iv. To be part of something bigger: Heng said that everyone is "all part of something that we can shape, that we can contribute to". Heng said that while we cannot stop the earth from cracking, we "can fight these cracks with our bonds, our friendships, our love and respect and care for one another". He concluded that while "rocks may fall, but our human spirit will never falter".

3. "So, what does this mean for Singapore?” Speech at The Big Ideas of Mr Lee Kuan Yew Conference, September 2013.

i. Singapore as the Focal Point: Lee’s favourite question is: “So?” His instinct is to cut through the clutter, drill to the core of the issue, and identify the vital points. Singapore is the focal point. “So, what does this mean for Singapore?” What are the implications? What should we be doing differently?

ii. Lee’s openness: He has strong views but is open to robust exchange. He made it a point to hear from those with expertise and experience, but he can be persuaded.

iii. One Man Intelligence Agency: Lee listens and reads widely, but he does so like a detective, looking for and linking vital clues while discarding the irrelevant. He has a mental map of the world.  He constantly scanned for changes and matched these against the map.

iv. Expanding Singapore’s external space: Lee was a principled advocate of collaboration, based on long-term interests. As the face of Singapore, he made fast friendships with senior world leaders who appreciate his view of things, and respect Singapore’s principled stance on international issues.

4. One of Minister Heng's first speeches in parliament, Debate on the President's Address, October 2011

i. How to best ensure the survival and success of Singapore, and improve the lives of Singaporeans: "Singaporeans need to build a consensus about the values, ideas and ideals that underpin three key relationships - the relationship of self to others; the relationship of Singapore to the world; and, the relationship of the future to the past - as they will frame our policies and national dialogues."

ii. Ideas to build a good Singapore society:

"1) Celebrate teamwork; 2) Enlarge and deepen Singapore's common space, and have a unifying purpose based on shared ideals and values; 3) Celebrate success and spur each other on; 4) Successful Singaporeans should give back to the broader society; 5) Singaporeans must not treat those we help as helpless beneficiaries, but to look to what they can contribute; and 6) Singaporeans should temper their competitive instincts with an abundance mentality - to be more gracious, kind and giving."

iii. The goal? To create the conditions for all Singaporeans to pursue their dreams and aspirations: "When Singaporeans have the trust between our Government and our people, and the right relationships between self and others; our nation and the world; our past and our future, Singapore will have an inclusive and supportive society, an enterprising and creative people, and a resolute and resilient nation."

5. "So what? What for?" speech at this year's Debate on the President's Address, January 2016

i. Heng urged MPs to ask the "so what" questions for Singapore and Singaporeans: Heng encouraged the MPs to ask: "So, what does this mean for Singapore and Singaporeans? So, what must we do to ensure the success of Singapore and Singaporeans?"

ii. So what for Singapore and Singaporeans? "To have a place in the world, Singapore needs to continue creating value for the world and for ourselves."

iii. So, what does this mean for Singapore and Singaporeans? "Singaporeans must remain at the forefront of this major structural transformation. Beyond that, Singapore and Singaporeans must share value we create, in a fair and inclusive way. Education, healthcare, housing are major ways that the Government is sharing the value of what we have created together. The best gift to give each child for the SG100 journey is the gift of education."

iv: The "what for" question: "To build a Singapore where every Singaporean can reach our dreams."

Interested in more of Heng's speeches?

Read his budget speech: Everything you need to know about the 2016 Budget Statement in 60 seconds

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Top photo from CNA Twitter.

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