Singapore prepares for life after founding father Lee Kuan Yew

Crowds have gathered outside Singapore General Hospital to pay tribute, and family members have been seen visiting. “It will be sad when he dies. He has his flaws but (he) has achieved a lot for this country,” teaching assistant Imad Alatas, 33, told AFP at the hospital.

Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is critically ill in intensive care. Photograph: Xinhua News Agency

The Island nation’s first prime minister is critically ill in intensive care although reports of his death have been dismissed as a hoax

Singapore’s ‘founding father’ Lee Kuan Yew is critically ill in hospital, and the island state he led for three decades is preparing for life without the domineering politician who guided it to independence and prosperity.

91-year-old Lee, Singapore’s first and longest-serving prime minister, has receded from public life in recent times, but he remains a revered figure in the country he led for 31 years.

Crowds have gathered outside Singapore General Hospital to pay tribute, and family members have been seen visiting. “It will be sad when he dies. He has his flaws but (he) has achieved a lot for this country,” teaching assistant Imad Alatas, 33, told AFP at the hospital.

Civil servant Asyraf Jalil, 26, said: “He is a good man and I’ve always seen him as the father of modern Singapore.”

Current Prime Minister, and Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, issued a statement saying only: “Lee Kuan Yew remains critically ill in the ICU and has deteriorated further”.

An earlier statement said the patriarch had been administered antibiotics and that doctors were “closely monitoring his condition”.

Lee was hospitalised with severe pneumonia in early February. He was placed on mechanical ventilation in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Lee served as Singapore’s first prime minister from 1959, when Singapore won self-rule, until 1990 when he stepped down.

He led Singapore’s six-year transition from British colonial outpost, through self-administration, merger with and then separation from Malaysia, to independent statehood, and Singapore declaration as a republic, in 1965.

Lee was a founding member of the governing People’s Action party and is credited with transforming Singapore from a sleepy Asian entrepot into a bustling and wealthy financial hub.

He encouraged economic growth with easy regulation and low taxes for business, and by employing a large government apparatus to look after citizens.

But progress came at the expense of civil liberties.

Critics and human rights groups condemned his iron-fisted rule of his country which saw his political opponents jailed, exiled, or driven to financial ruin through costly libel suits.

Members of the public and journalists gathered at the Singapore General Hospital after news broke that former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was critically ill. -PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

Only 12 opposition politicians have ever been elected to parliament in Singapore.

From 1965 to 1981, the ruling party won every seat in every election.

Parliament was formed with no elected opposition MPs for almost two decades..

Media freedoms were also stifled, and political dissent was not tolerated.

Lee retained cabinet-level advisory posts - such as ‘minister mentor’ after handing over the premiership to Goh Chok Tong in 1990.

He resigned from the cabinet in May 2011 after his party won its 14th consecutive general election.

The People’s Action party’s 2011 election win was by its slimmest ever margin, though the party still commands a dominant parliamentary majority.

Lee was re-elected to his seat unopposed.

Earlier on Thursday, a website closely resembling the prime minister’s website announced that Lee had died.

This was reported as fact by some media outlets, but it was later retracted as wrong.

Singapore police have announced an inquiry into the hoax. “Police confirm a report has been lodged and we are looking into the matter,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Melvin Yong said in a statement.

“We take a very stern view against anyone who doctors a government website to spread false information to deceive the public. We will spare no effort to bring them to task. We also advise the public not to spread falsehoods.”

-The Guardian