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Members of the public light candles to form the acronym "R.I.P." at a local community club. Photo: AP

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong shares grief after death of his father, Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the nation of the death of his father, first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, as tributes poured in from other current and former officials.

Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the nation of the death of his father, first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, as tributes poured in from other current and former officials.

“I am deeply saddened to tell you that Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away peacefully this morning at the Singapore General Hospital,” the premier said on Singapore television this morning, hours after Lee Kuan Yew died at 3.18am.

“I am grieved beyond words at the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Let us dedicate ourselves as one people to build on his foundations, strive for his ideals, and keep Singapore exceptional and successful for many years to come.”

He quoted his father as saying: “I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There’s nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.”

In this 2004 photo, newly-appointed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (right), shakes hands with his father, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the presidential palace in Singapore. Photo: AP

Former prime minister Goh Chok Tong spoke of his intense emotion upon hearing of the elder Lee’s death at the age of 91.

“My tears welled up as I received the sad news. Mr Lee Kuan Yew has completed his life’s journey,” Goh wrote on his Facebook page.

“He has bequeathed a monumental legacy to Singaporeans - a safe, secure, harmonious and prosperous independent Singapore. He was my leader, mentor, inspiration, the man I looked up to most,” said Goh, who succeeded Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister in 1990 and who in turn was succeeded by Lee Hsien Loong in 2004.

Singapore’s President, Tony Tan Keng Yam, shared on Facebook his letter of condolence to Prime Minister Lee, which said: “Mr Lee [Kuan Yew] was one of the first to recognise China’s potential under Deng Xiaoping’s reforms.  Mr Lee’s brilliant intellect and candour of opinion led many international leaders and foreign diplomats to seek his views on developments in the region and around the world.

“Many aspects of our lives bear Mr Lee’s imprint - be it our HDB [the government Housing Development Board] estates, our gardens, or the SAF [Singapore Armed Forces].  Without his remarkable foresight and relentless pursuit of Singapore’s development, the Singapore that we know today would not exist,” President Tan added.  

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore deputy prime minister and finance minister, said: “The best way to honour Mr Lee is for each new generation of Singaporeans to build on what they inherit, live by their ideals, and strive to make our society fair, just and great.”

Prime Minister Lee declared a period of National Mourning from until Sunday. State flags on all Singapore government buildings will be flown at half-mast, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

A private family wake will be held today and tomorrow. Lee’s body will lie in state at Singapore’s Parliament House from Wednesday to Saturday for the public to pay their respects, before a state funeral on Sunday at the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore.

The funeral will be followed by a private cremation, the Prime Minister’s Office added.

In an interview with Singapore television channel Channel NewsAsia this morning, Singapore ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh Thong Bee said Lee Kuan Yew had known every US President from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama, and they all respected him. Lee Kuan Yew took a strategic long-term view by cultivating China when the communist country was unpopular in the West, Koh said.

Lee Kuan Yew had a cold and unsentimental view of international relations, Koh added.

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