Emotions Raw as Singapore Pays Tribute to Lee Kuan Yew
Singaporeans wept on the streets and queued in their thousands Wednesday to pay tribute to founding leader Lee Kuan Yew after his flag-draped coffin was taken on a gun carriage to parliament for public viewing.
More than 26,000 had filed past the coffin before sundown, a government spokesman told AFP, and thousands more were in line outside despite warnings that it could take them up to eight hours to view the casket.
After a two-day private wake for the family, Lee's coffin was taken early Wednesday from the Istana government complex, Lee's workplace for decades as prime minister and cabinet adviser, to the legislature. It will lie in state there until the weekend.
The 91-year-old patriarch died Monday after half a century in government, during which the city-state was transformed from a poor British colonial outpost into one of the world's richest societies.
The government led by his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, apparently surprised by the heavy turnout on day one, announced that Parliament House would stay open for 24 hours a day until Saturday night due to the "overwhelming response from members of the public".
Lee will be cremated on Sunday after a state funeral expected to be attended by several Asia-Pacific leaders even though he was just an MP when he died.
Applause and shouts of "We love you!" and "Lee Kuan Yew!" broke out as the dark brown wooden coffin, covered by the red-and-white Singapore flag, emerged from the Istana in a tempered glass case perched on a gun carriage pulled by an open-topped military truck.
Earlier, in scenes that evoked Singapore's colonial past, the carriage stopped in front of the main Istana building, from where Britain administered the island, as a bagpiper from the local Gurkha Contingent -- a special guard force -- played "Auld Lang Syne".
As the motorcade left the government complex, many in the crowd along the route to parliament were in tears as they raised cameras and mobile phones to record the historic event.
Some threw flowers on the path of the carriage, while office workers watched from high-rise buildings.
President Tony Tan and his wife Mary were the first to pay their respects, bowing three times before Lee's closed coffin in the parliament's foyer.
Queues snaked around the central business district despite the tropical heat and humidity.
In true Singaporean fashion the crowds were orderly, with free drinking water and portable toilets set up for mourners.
Police commandos helped direct traffic flow and priority queues were created for the elderly, pregnant women and disabled.
People from all walks of life turned up to honor the authoritarian former leader known by his initials "LKY".
"These are amazing scenes. I have not seen anything like this in my lifetime," said bank executive Zhang Wei Jie, 36.
"LKY is the founder of our country. It is a no-brainer that we have to pay respect. We have taken some time off from work, my supervisor is also here somewhere in the crowd."
R. Tamilselvi, 77, brought two of her granddaughters, each clutching flowers.
"Lee Kuan Yew has done so much for us," she said. "We used to live in squatter (colonies) in Sembawang, my husband was a bus driver. Now my three sons have good jobs and nice houses. The children all go to school. What will we be without Lee Kuan Yew?"
Lee first became an MP in 1955 and served as prime minister from 1959, when Britain granted self-rule, to 1990. He led Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia.
Singapore now has one of the world's highest per capita incomes and citizens enjoy near-universal home ownership, low crime rates and first-class infrastructure.
Lee was criticized, however, for ruling with an iron fist, jailing dissidents and forcing political opponents into bankruptcy and self-exile with costly libel suits.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/173008 |