IN THEIR first comments since Member of Parliament Seng Han Thong was set on fire by a man on Sunday, his family spoke of the pain and anguish the attack has caused them.

In a statement issued to the media yesterday, Mr Seng's family said they were still trying to come to terms with the 'unfortunate incident'.

RELATED LINKS  HOW A SKIN GRAFT IS DONE

'We are struggling with reality. The sight of our loved one, who is so full of life and now lying in great pain, unable to speak, immobilised, hooked to a respirator and an array of medical equipment, is so shocking.'

The statement added that the pain felt by the family, especially Mr Seng's mother, is 'beyond any description and imagination'.

The family thanked the Singapore General Hospital's team of five doctors and other support staff at the burns unit for their 'dedicated attention and professional care' and for helping the family cope with 'the despair and extreme stress'.

They said they were grateful to everyone - relatives, friends and grassroots leaders - who had shown their care and concern for the Yio Chu Kang MP since he was hospitalised on Sunday.

They also said they were 'touched and moved' by the well-wishes and those who turned up to visit the 59-year-old MP.

Over the past few days, a stream of top officials - including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng - current and former MPs, unionists and members of the public have visited Mr Seng.

Yesterday, President S R Nathan, Foreign Minister George Yeo and Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan paid him a visit.

Mr Seng, who suffered 14 per cent burns on his arms, chest and face, is still heavily sedated and is recovering in the Intensive Care Unit after a skin graft operation on his upper right arm on Monday.

He is also on a respirator.

Associate Professor Colin Song, head of SGH's Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, said Mr Seng's condition is stable.

He said some burns victims are sedated to keep them calm and to lessen the pain from the skin graft.

Mr Seng will face a long recovery period after his discharge - likely to be at the end of the month at the earliest - and will have to undergo months of painful rehabilitation.

This will include weekly check-ups and therapy, and possibly reconstructive surgery to ease the movement of his arm.

'We want to prevent the burn scars from overgrowing and becoming so thick that they compromise the function of the joints,' said Prof Song.

The plastic surgeon said that grafted skin usually takes between six and 12 months to stabilise, during which the life of a burns victim 'may not be business as usual'. They also have to wear pressure garments to stop the scarring of the grafted skin from becoming worse.

Meanwhile, labour chief Lim Swee Say, who visited Mr Seng on Monday, told reporters at an NTUC event yesterday: 'I felt sad...and couldn't recognise him because he was suffering from very severe swelling and was under heavy sedation.'

But he added that it is part of an MP's duty to be accessible to the public.

'As we go through this downturn, more workers, more residents will be affected by the downturn. In fact, as MPs, we have to go to the ground even more, walk the ground even more, do even more Meet-the-People sessions.

'We are not going to let such an isolated incident affect us because we cannot afford to let it affect us. Because at the end of the day, we must continue to be people-centric and community-centric.'

jermync@sph.com.sg