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tuesday, 24 March 2015

MCI (P) 046/06/2014

President Tony Tan and his wife Mrs Mary Tan paying their respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew at Sri Temasek, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching received them. Photo: The Straits Times

Spore and the world mourn Mr Lee

Thousands send condolences,
global heads of state pay
tribute to a lion among leaders
LOH CHEE KONG

Associate Editor
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

he Republic lost its founding

Prime Minister yesterday, and
the world mourned the death
of a global statesman.
The announcement in the wee hours
of the morning Mr Lee Kuan Yew
died at 3.18am, and the Prime Ministers Offices announced his death a
little after 4am left many at a loss
for words, coming as it did at the end
of a week during which Singaporeans
feared the worst after a series of statements chronicling his failing health

made the front pages of local newspapers on successive days.

Over the course of the day, tens of
thousands continuously thronged sites
across the island including the Istana
main gate, Parliament House, Tanjong
Pagar Community Club and the Singapore General Hospital, where Mr Lee
had been warded to pen their tributes and condolence messages.
Singaporeans from all walks of life
also took to social media to pay tribute to
Mr Lee, whose death came only months
before Singapores 50th National Day.
The Republics embassies and consulates across Asia saw streams of Singaporeans and locals turning up to sign
condolence books, while global leaders
past and present wrote of the sadness
they felt after the loss of a giant of history who will be remembered for generations to come, in the words of United

States President Barack Obama. In his

condolence note among the first to
arrive from a world leader Mr Obama said his discussions with Mr Lee in
2009 were pivotal to the US policy of
rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi
Jinping described Mr Lee as a uniquely influential statesman in Asia, while
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
called him a lion among leaders.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe hailed Mr Lees incomparable
leadership and unparalleled insights
and praised him for playing a key role
not only in achieving Singapores remarkable economic growth and prosperity, but also in securing peace and
stability of the Asia-Pacific region and
the world. Regional leaders including
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
and Indonesian President Joko Widodo

To many
Singaporeans,
and indeed
others too, Lee
Kuan Yew was
Singapore ...
Singapore was
his abiding
passion.
He gave of
himself, in
full measure,
to Singapore.
Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong
In a live address
to Singaporeans

also paid tribute to Mr Lees leadership.

Corporate bigwigs here and abroad
also expressed their condolences, as
did some of his political adversaries.
Even football clubs in Germany and
England took to social media to offer
their condolences.
While Mr Lee had been in ill health
for more than a month, his death hit
Singaporeans hard. As the hearse
carrying his body made its way to
Sri Temasek, the official residence of
the Prime Minister within the Istana
grounds, where a private wake was
held, many members of the public who
gathered outside the Istana main gate
could not contain their emotions. Cries
of Mr Lee! Mr Lee! erupted.
Just hours after the announcement
of the death, Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong addressed Singaporeans in a
Continued on page 2