Singapore's Ong to U.S. for checkup

Singapore's Ong to U.S. for checkup

SINGAPORE (AP): Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong left for the United States for "a routine medical checkup", and is expected to return on March 7, the government said on Wednesday.

Ong, 61, suffered from a recurrence of lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphoid cells, in July, and underwent a course of chemotherapy. He is going to Stanford, California, on this trip.

Ong's malignancy was originally discovered in 1992, while he was serving as a deputy prime minister. He resigned shortly afterward. Ong was elected to his largely ceremonial post in 1993.

Singapore's chairman of the council of presidential advisers, Lim Kim San, will serve as acting president in Ong's absence.