Update | Singapore says final farewell to its founding father Lee Kuan Yew
Prime Minister joins tens of thousands in the city-state to pay tribute to his father, who 'lived and breathed' the country all his life
When Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew was a 64-year-old prime minister in 1988, he declared: "Even from my sickbed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up."
The remark was often joked about as evidence of Lee's difficulty letting go of power.
Watch: Singapore's final farewell to Lee Kuan Yew
But at his state funeral yesterday, when his eldest son and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong quoted it, the words took on a different tenor. The promise encapsulated an obsessive sense of responsibility that mourning Singaporeans might have taken for granted but now realised was unusual in politics.
Lee Kuan Yew "lived and breathed Singapore all of his life", the prime minister said in his eulogy.
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Over a week of mourning and again in yesterday's tributes, Singaporeans heard one story after another that reaffirmed Lee Kuan Yew's iron discipline and drive. He worked until past midnight up until his 80s. His final appointment before being admitted to hospital for the last time was with his Putonghua tutor.
So determined was he to fill his mind with Mission Singapore that he struggled to clear it in order to practise meditation, Lee revealed.
Lee was prime minister from 1959 to 1990, and a cabinet minister until 2011. He died as a member of parliament for a seat that he had held since 1955.
The state funeral provided closure to a week in which Singaporeans turned out in the hundreds of thousands to pay their respects.
Yesterday was no different. They braved torrential rain to line the 15.4km route travelled by his cortege.
At the funeral, the younger Lee and nine other speakers shared stories of an indomitable, courageous leader whose singular commitment was to ensure Singapore would succeed against all odds.
"Because he never wavered, we didn't falter. Because he fought, we took courage and fought with him, and prevailed," his son said. He instilled discipline and order in the running of the country and in "ensuring that in Singapore, every problem gets fixed".
Throughout the nearly three hours of the sombre gathering, a muffled sob could be heard now and then in the cavernous University Cultural Centre. The speakers mostly held their tears in check. But occasionally their voices broke, eyes reddened, their sorrow palpable.
In attendance was a host of foreign dignitaries. Along the same row, one section had world leaders, including Vice President Li Yuanchao, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. In another section of the row were seated former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former vice-president of Taiwan Lien Chan. Acknowledging their presence, Lee said his father had raised Singapore's standing in the world.
"His counsel influenced decisions in many capitals. He knew every Chinese leader from Mao Zedong and every US president from Lyndon Johnson. Others he knew included Deng Xiaoping , Margaret Thatcher, as well as president Bill Clinton and Henry Kissinger, who we are honoured to have here with us today," he said.
The elder Lee enlarged his tiny country's strategic space and ensured "Singapore's voice is heard, and we enjoy far more influence on the world stage than we have any reason to expect".
He cared profoundly "for the people whom he served, the people of Singapore", said the younger Lee. When Singapore was hit by Sars in 2003, for example, Lee Kuan Yew pressed the younger team of ministers to help taxi drivers who were losing income.
Lee Hsien Loong also revealed his colleagues were not beyond urging his father to sometimes "soften the tone of his drafts" of speeches as he was a "straight talker". Then again, as he himself said - and the son quoted him - Lee always "tried to be correct, not politically correct".
Speakers, who included President Tony Tan Keng Yam, praised Lee for making way for younger leaders while remaining available as an influential adviser.
The country's second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, recalled how his predecessor went to great lengths never to undermine him.
Goh and retired cabinet minister Suppiah Dhanabalan were among the two core second-generation leaders that Lee took under his wings in the 1970s. Both thanked him for being their teacher and mentor.
"What is still vivid in my mind is the time and mental energy he spent to prepare us for the responsibilities ahead," Dhanabalan said.
The simple yet elegant funeral began at 2pm, after Lee's cortege, draped with the Singapore flag and placed on a gun carriage, had wound its way past landmarks he helped to build. At the end, a siren sounded all over the island for a minute of silence.
Lee Hsien Loong's younger brother, Hsien Yang, delivered the final eulogy on behalf of the family, thanking Singaporeans for their extraordinary show of sorrow and affection over the past week.
They felt keenly the loss, just as his family felt deeply the loss of "my extraordinary father, a father we share - with Singapore".