Singapore reopens queue for Lee Kuan Yew mourners

Agence France-Presse

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Singapore reopens queue for Lee Kuan Yew mourners

EPA

As of 11 pm Friday, March 27, more than 290,000 people have already paid their respects to Lee, who led Singapore to independence from Malaysia in 1965

SINGAPORE – The Singapore government Saturday, March 28 reopened a massive queue for mourners to pay their last respects to founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew after a temporary suspension for safety reasons.

A surge of mourners late Friday, March 27 forced overwhelmed officials to cut off access to the Padang, an open field close to parliament, where Lee’s remains have been lying in state since Wednesday, March 25.

The queue was reopened after seven hours. (READ: TIMELINE: Lee Kuan Yew’s life)

An earlier government statement said that as of 11:00 pm Friday, more than 290,000 people had paid their respects to Lee, who led Singapore to independence from Malaysia in 1965.

Lee, who died at 91 on Monday, March 23 after a long illness, is credited with the rise of the former British colony into one of the world’s wealthiest societies after he served as prime minister for 31 years, followed by another 20 years as cabinet adviser.

Until the suspension, the queue ran for 24 hours amid a widespread show of grief over the passing of the patriarch who governed Singapore with an iron fist, sidelining political opponents, muzzling the media and restricting political freedoms as he steered the economy to prosperity.

Lee is to be given full state honors before being cremated Sunday, March 29, including a 21-gun salute and a flypast by fighter jets.

Former US President Bill Clinton, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian King Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah are among the confirmed state representatives attending the funeral. – Rappler.com

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