Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is recuperating at home after suffering a stroke in May, had to watch the National Day Parade on TV last night.

In a Facebook post yesterday afternoon, he said he could not attend the parade, as his doctors had advised him to avoid crowded places to prevent infection, which could set back his recovery.

Mr Heng, who also chairs the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), had a lung infection while he was in intensive care.

"I feel great now, been keeping up the rehab in between reading papers from MOF (Ministry of Finance) and the CFE," he wrote. "But the doctors say the lungs take time to recover fully and a new infection could set back that process."

He said he would probably do his stretches and exercises while catching the parade on TV.

Mr Heng, an MP for Tampines GRC, also uploaded a photo of residents giving two thumbs up at his constituency's recent National Day dinner, which he also could not attend, in Tampines Central.

"They remembered that when PM (Lee Hsien Loong) visited me when I was still in hospital, I gave PM two thumbs up. So now the Tampines family is giving me two thumbs up too. Very sweet of them," he wrote.

Mr Heng also thanked followers of his Facebook page for their warm wishes, prayers and words of encouragement, as well as his fellow GRC MPs and colleagues for covering his duties in his absence.

He is on medical leave after he collapsed during a Cabinet meeting from a stroke due to an aneurysm, a localised weakening of a blood vessel. He underwent surgery to seal off the aneurysm, and was discharged from hospital on June 25.