Goh Chok Tong hints at health concern that could have prompted his retirement as MP

When Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong retired from politics last month, he told Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that he had preferred to retire "whilst [he was] healthy", but that might not have been the case then.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (July 15), he revealed that his doctor had discovered a white spot on his larynx (voice box) sometime last year. If it turned out to be malignant, it could lead to cancer.

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While his voice was affected, they were unable to carry out a biopsy to determine whether it was cancerous. At the time, Goh just had two arteries stented and was taking blood thinners.

In the meantime, he cut off his intake of wine, caffeine, curry and durian in hopes that the spot would shrink and eventually disappear.

On Tuesday morning, his doctor confirmed that the spot was indeed gone, much to Goh's delight.

"But [it's] too late to reverse my decision to retire as MP," he wrote, hinting that he might not have stepped down from his post had it not been for the health scare.

Goh had served as MP for Marine Parade for 44 years and was formerly Singapore's Prime Minister from 1990 to 2004.

After retiring from politics, the 79-year-old said he's enjoying his retirement and he has actually taken to Instagram to share more of his post-MP life.

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rainercheung@asiaone.com