World leaders join mourners for Singapore’s former leader
Print Edition
GRIEVING Singaporeans were joined by world leaders yesterday as they paid their final respects to the country’s first prime minister and founding father Lee Kuan Yew.
Tens of thousands of people braved heavy rain to line the streets as Lee’s coffin was taken by gun carriage on a 15 kilometer procession through the streets of the country he helped build to his state funeral.
Lee, who died aged 91 last Monday, is credited with founding modern Singapore and transforming it from a small, colonial British trading port into one of the world’s wealthiest nations.
His death prompted an unprecedented show of mourning and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee’s son, battled tears as he delivered a 40-minute eulogy.
“His was the original Singapore Roar: passionate, formidable and indomitable,” he said. “To those who seek Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s monument, Singaporeans can reply proudly: ‘look around you’.”
Public warning sirens sounded across the country to mark a minute’s silence, with buses and trains coming to a halt.
Earlier, booms from a 21-gun salute had reverberated around the city’s business district, fighter jets had flown overhead in formation and two navy ships near the marina made an ‘L’ ‘K’ ‘Y’ signal with their flags as Lee’s coffin was taken from the country’s parliament.
Singaporeans, many dressed in the mourning colors of black and white, waited for hours to watch the procession, shouting “Lee Kuan Yew” as it passed.
“His biggest achievement is to help elevate people’s living standards,” said Huang Jiancong, 54, who was standing at the start of the route, carrying a Singapore flag.
Lee’s influence on the international stage was reflected in the turnout of serving and former world leaders.
Vice President Li Yuanchao represented China while former President Bill Clinton and ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger, a close friend of Lee’s, came for the United States. William Hague, leader of the House of Commons, represented Britain.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, India’s Narendra Modi and Indonesia’s Joko Widodo were also among the leaders brushing shoulders with Lee’s family and Singapore politicians.
Lee’s death, less than five months before the city-state’s 50th anniversary of independence, triggered a huge outpouring of grief.
Almost 500,000 people went to see Lee lying in state, many queuing for up to 10 hours. More than a million visited condolence sites at community centres across the country.
His death also revived memories of an iron-fisted approach to opponents.
“To those he believed were out to destroy Singapore, he put on his knuckle-dusters,” Goh Chok Tong, the prime minister who succeeded Lee, said in his eulogy.
India and New Zealand observed an official day of mourning yesterday.
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