SINGAPORE - Former transport minister S. Iswaran, who is facing corruption charges, was hospitalised for respiratory illness in Melbourne and was subsequently discharged on the afternoon of March 5.
The Straits Times understands that Iswaran, who was in Australia to help his son settle in at university, was warded at private hospital Cabrini Malvern.
His trip, originally slated to be from Feb 16 to March 4, was extended to March 19 as he had fallen ill while abroad.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers said on March 4 that the defence had filed an application that day to extend his trip and the State Courts had granted the application.
Cabrini Malvern is run by Cabrini Health – a Catholic, not-for-profit private health service located in south-east Melbourne.
Iswaran’s doctor Tim Cheung is a respiratory and sleep specialist whom ST has contacted for more information.
ST visited Cabrini Malvern on March 5 and learnt the hospital is located about 5km from Monash University.
Iswaran’s son started studying at the university in February, according to his LinkedIn page.
The university website states that the orientation week was between Feb 19 and 23, and the semester started on March 3.
An ST interview with Iswaran in 2022 reported that he and his wife, a former teacher, have three children – a daughter, who was then 21 and in university, and two sons, who were aged 19 and 15 at the time.
Iswaran has a first-class honours degree in economics from the University of Adelaide and met his Australian wife while at university in Australia.
His daughter is currently living and working in Melbourne.
Iswaran is accused of 24 counts of obtaining, as a minister, items with a total value of more than $200,000 from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Mr Ong is the man who brought Formula One to Singapore in 2008.
These items included tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix (GP), football matches in Britain and musicals.
Several of the charges are related to alleged incidents that happened between 2015 and 2021, and involved Iswaran purportedly obtaining tickets to a football match between West Ham United and Everton, as well as shows such as Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
He also faces a charge of obstructing the course of justice on or about May 25, 2023.
According to court documents, Iswaran allegedly made repayment of $5,700 – the cost of his business class flight ticket from Doha to Singapore that he had purportedly taken on Dec 11, 2022, at Mr Ong’s expense – through the Singapore GP.
Following his court appearance on Jan 18, 2024, Iswaran issued a statement stating his innocence and said he will focus on clearing his name.
He was elected in 1997 as an MP for West Coast GRC, where he served for 26 years. He was promoted to full minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2011.
Iswaran resigned from the People’s Action Party in January and stepped down as transport minister and West Coast GRC MP.
