The minister's response: 'His insurance is that he has a good son-in-law.'

With a mixture of witty repartee and cogent arguments, Mr Khaw Boon Wan stoutly defended his ministry's policies and candidly offered his own view on health care at a dialogue with National University of Singapore alumni and health-care professionals last night.

The topic of discussion: Is falling sick more scary than death?

The minister reiterated the long-held policy that the Government would not underwrite the medical expenses of the rich at the cost of the poor.

Pointing out that even barbers charged $20 for a haircut - as his did, even though it wasn't a 'fancy' one - the minister said that surely doctors could charge $64, especially since that cost included medicines too.

'If you feel health care is important, then you must be prepared to spend a certain percentage of your income, say 10 per cent, on it,' said Mr Khaw. 'You can't say health care is important but please could the Government pay for it.'

Citing Asian values, the minister said, where possible, children and other relatives should foot old folks' bills. 'They brought us up, we must be prepared to support our elderly.'

However, he added that those who could not afford to pay their medical bills would be taken care of by schemes such as the $2 billion Medifund.

The lively two-hour discussion, chaired by eminent eye surgeon Arthur Lim, also touched on contentious topics such as competition within the two public health-care clusters, waiting times at hospitals, why Singapore needs to attract foreign patients and when to pull the plug on the terminally ill.

When a member of the audience, Mr Johnny Tan, asked whether it made sense to have two competing public health-care clusters in such a small nation, Mr Khaw retorted: 'I am less interested in structure than substance.

'Is there a role for competition in health care? The answer is yes.'

Competition, he explained, drives down costs for patients. One of the most competitive 'medical businesses' here, he said, was obstetrics care - the delivery of babies. There were many players in the field, he pointed out, and the competition had kept prices flat for the past 10 years.

Prices for laser eye surgery were another case in point. After the ministry made public the prices charged by the various institutes for the surgery - some of which were 'ridiculously high' - all the institutes started lowering their prices.

'When there is competition, there is a limit to the premium we can charge,' said Mr Khaw.

The minister also denied that foreign patients would crowd out Singaporeans in the island's bid to become a medical tourism hub. Instead, practising their skills on an increased patient pool would only increase medical practitioners' expertise. 'The more you practise, the more skilful you are,' said Mr Khaw.