Here's something fascinating that emerged (well, apart from the scare PM Lee gave us all) from the ongoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally: Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will be returning to his ministerial post.

With that, Deputy Prime Minister and Coodinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be relieved of his Acting Finance Minister duties.

Instead, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong will back Heng up as Second Finance Minister, said PM Lee.

On May 12, slightly under eight months since taking up office, and after presenting his maiden Budget, Minister Heng suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and collapsed in a cabinet meeting. He was out and hospitalised for roughly one and a half months, before he was eventually discharged on June 25.

Saying "it's a miracle that he's all right", PM Lee said Heng will have to stay away from crowds for a few more months at least, in order to reduce the possibility of Heng contracting any infections.

Therefore, said Lee, Heng "can't do his usual community and grassroots work for a little while longer", but his doctors have allowed him to start doing office work, "with minimum interaction".

Lee's compromise solution for using the talents of Heng:

1) Heng will work on next year's Budget and continue to lead the Committee on the Future Economy.

2) Wong will back him up, carrying out his operational responsibilities.

Now, PM Lee shared the above right in the middle of the issue of leadership succession, which he said his timetable and resolve for which has not changed.

"Soon after the next GE (general election), my successor must be ready to take over from me," he said — this means that if the next parliamentary election is held in 2020, whoever's stepping up to the plate will have to do it in about four years' time.

Heng also shared a lengthy reflection in the wake of PM Lee's announcement on his own Facebook page:

Here's what he wrote in full:

"I have followed every one of PM Lee’s NDRs closely. Like all of you, I have never felt such a surge of joy as when PM came back on stage tonight after he took ill. He looked very well, full of colour and spirit, just like his usual self. I hope his full check-up after the NDR will find that everything is okay, and I hope PM will take some rest. He has been checking up on me in the last few weeks, advising me to take care after my stroke. My sincerest hope is that he will also be kind to himself when it comes to his health.

Tonight, PM touched on the critical challenges that affect our future – our economy, our security, our Elected Presidency and our sense of unity. I hope it will set us all thinking and discussing more about these major issues.

We saw tonight how closely PM’s team works together, as some rushed on stage to support PM, while others informed the audience and us at home about what was happening. I have experience this spirit. As I prepare to resume my duties as Finance Minister, I am deeply grateful to DPM Tharman for covering my duties these few months. I also thank Minister Iswaran in the CFE, SMS Indranee and SMS Sim Ann, and MOF and other officials, for their dedication.

When I return, I will, for a start, be focusing on next year’s Budget and the ongoing CFE work. I am also happy that Minister Lawrence Wong will join our MOF team as the Second Minister. He will be a great member of the team.

Lawrence and I worked closely together at MOE, when he led the Committee on University Education Pathways beyond 2015, a major piece of work that led to important policies. We had good robust discussions, and I look forward to more exchanges when he joins us at MOF as Second Minister.

I must also thank the many colleagues and friends in Tampines, MOF, CFE and elsewhere, who have been so kind in helping with my work while I’ve been on medical leave. In particular, my colleagues at Tampines will continue to help me with constituency work. Thank you for the regular updates in the last few weeks and for sharing with me residents’ views. Very glad to keep up this good teamwork.

Teamwork is about spirit, it is also about the members who make up the team. I’d like to echo PM’s call for all Singaporeans to step forward and play a role in nation building. We need good people, working together in the right spirit, to keep Singapore going.

All my best to PM and his family, who must have had a scare tonight. And my deep thanks to the SCDF team, not just for helping me after my stroke, but for the assistance they gave to PM tonight too! I for one know that PM was in good hands with them."

The importance of the Finance Ministry (and who leads it)

His appointment of Wong to back Heng up is no insignificant move, one can be clear about that, though.

Finance is, needless to say, one of Singapore's most important ministries — our past two Prime Ministers both had a hand in the Finance Ministry in one way or another.

(The late founding PM Lee Kuan Yew was of course an exception: he started out as PM from even before independence.)

By 1992, when this photo was taken, Goh Chok Tong was already Prime Minister — he took over from the late Lee in 1990. But prior to this, when he first entered politics in 1976, he was appointed Senior Minister of State for Finance, reporting to Hon Sui Sen.

Here's our PM in 2003, as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, about to deliver the Budget for that year in Parliament. PM Lee was appointed Finance Minister in 2001, and carried the PM and Finance Minister roles for slightly more than three years — between August 2004 and December 2007, where DPM Tharman took over.

Now, we're not saying every person who serves as Finance Minister will go on to become PM — after all, there have been many Finance Ministers who did not (Lim Kin San, Goh Keng Swee, Hon Sui Sen, our President Tony Tan, and Richard Hu, for instance) — but whoever does is certainly among the core of PM Lee's most trusted leaders, and in all likelihood, among the key pool in the running to succeed him.

More from what happened tonight:

PM Lee was dehydrated, ‘did not have a stroke’: PMO statement

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be finishing his National Day Rally speech

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appeared unwell on stage during National Day Rally 2016

8 companies that received free product placement during the 2016 National Day Rally

PM Lee plays host at National Day Rally, reveals the menu to guests before reception

Top photo from Heng Swee Keat's Facebook page

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