SINGAPORE, March 29 — Thousands of people gathered in Singapore yesterday including former US President Bill Clinton, to bid farewell to former leader Lee Kuan Yew in an unprecedented wave of sympathy after authorities had to temporarily suspend queues overnight to manage surging crowds.
The waiting time to enter Singapore’s Parliament House where Lee’s body was laying in state was as long as six hours just before midday yesterday, a rare sight in a city where public gatherings are tightly controlled.
Lee, Singapore’s first Prime Minister, died on Monday at the age of 91.
He is credited with transforming the city-state from a British colonial outpost into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, with a strong, pervasive role for the state and little patience for dissent.
Asia-Pacific leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and South Korean President Park Geun-hye will be among those attending the services.
More than half a million visitors have flocked to 18 designated community tributes, writing messages of condolence and leaving flowers.
Bill Clinton was a last minute visitor for the wake.
He arrived in Singapore yesterday, heading a delegation to attend lee Kuan Yew’s funeral. — Reuters
