Former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) was remembered as the founder of modern Singapore at a state funeral yesterday after a procession through the city-state’s streets that drew thousands of mourners despite heavy rain.
“We have all lost a father — we grieve as one people, one nation,” his son, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍), said in a eulogy. “Our shared sorrow has brought us together, and made us stronger and more resolute.”
Earlier, crowds lined an almost 16km stretch of central Singapore to bid farewell to the country’s first elected prime minister, as Lee Kuan Yew’s body traveled in a gun carriage to the National University of Singapore for the funeral service.
Photo: AFP
The procession was marked by a 21-gun salute, an air force aerial salute and a naval sail past.
“We come together not only to mourn. We come together also to rejoice in Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s long and full life, and what he has achieved with us, his people in Singapore,” Lee Hsien Loong said during the service attended by 2,200 people, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former US president Bill Clinton.
“Perhaps it’s appropriate that for his state funeral, the heavens opened and cried for him,” Lee Hsien Loong said.
Thousands of people, many of them dressed in white lined roads, yesterday in the central business district as heavy rain fell.
Huddling under umbrellas, many draped the red and white Singaporean flag over barricades.
As the motorcade passed, some shouted “Lee Kuan Yew” and others cried, screamed and cheered.
“What’s a little rain?” said Danny Tan, 41, a lawyer who was waiting with his wife and toddler son to view the procession.
“Mr LKY is an important man to this country. We may not agree with all that he’s done but there’s no denying he contributed much to Singapore,” said Tan, referring to Lee Kuan Yew by his initials.
The funeral caps a week of mourning after Lee Kuan Yew died on Monday aged 91.
“The world is a better place for Lee Kuan Yew,” former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said. “He taught us about the way Asians think about problems and he explained to us what development meant in a practical sense.”
Kissinger and Clinton represented the US at the funeral.
Clinton earlier shook hands with Modi and the two chatted on a balcony on the second floor of the university’s cultural hall, with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott joining them as they took their seats along with Abe, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in one row on the balcony.
Sitting several seats down from Abe in the same row was Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao (李源潮). Indonesian President Joko Widodo sat in the row behind.
Singaporean Cabinet ministers, including Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang (林勛強) and Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim, sat on the first floor of the hall in the front row, along with former prime minister Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟).
Lee Hsien Loong delivered the first of 10 eulogies, followed by Tan and Goh.
A public warning system sounded for 15 seconds for the nation to observe a minute of silence.
Lee Kuan Yew was later cremated at a private ceremony.
“People decide to brave the heavy rain and send our founding father off, so we do what we can to make them feel more comfortable,” said Tan Ling, 15, a high-school student who handed out ponchos to those packing the streets along with about 40 of her schoolmates.
Hundreds of people stayed on in the financial district after the procession passed, watching coverage of the motorcade on a giant screen.
“We are all beneficiaries because of Mr Lee’s foresight and economic policies,” said Chee Junn Yeow, 44, whose wife, Brenda, sobbed as the gun salute rang out. “Whatever our political differences are, all Singaporeans are here today because of one man — Mr Lee Kuan Yew.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in