World leaders pay tribute after Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew dies

Singapore yesterday mourned the passing of its legendary son whose name has been for so long interchangeable with its own - Lee Kuan Yew - as tributes poured in from world leaders remembering him as a visionary, a strategic thinker and a statesman.

Lee was 91. The hope, even as he fell ill last month, had been that he would pull through to witness the 50th year of Singapore's independence, a mere moment for ancient civilisations, but a near-miracle for an unlikely nation he had steered and transformed as its founding prime minister from 1965 to 1990.

But it was not to be. Lee breathed his last at 3.18am yesterday, with his family by his side. Lee Hsien Loong, his eldest son and the current prime minister, addressed the country and said he was grieved beyond words.

"The first of our founding fathers is no more," he said. "He inspired us, gave us courage, kept us together, and brought us here.

"He fought for our independence, built a nation where there was none, and made us proud to be Singaporeans. We won't see another man like him."

Among world leaders, President Xi Jinping called Lee an "old friend of the Chinese people" and the founder and pioneer of China-Singapore relations.