Singapore is bidding farewell to its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday aged 91.
Despite
torrential rain, thousands are lining the streets to view the funeral
procession carrying Mr Lee's coffin from parliament, where it has been
lying in state, across the city.
Following a state funeral attended by world leaders, his body will be cremated in a private family ceremony.
One million people have visited tribute sites this week, say local media. More
than half a million people - 12% of Singaporean citizens - visited
Parliament House to see Mr Lee's coffin, while at least 850,000 others
went to community sites to pay tribute.
The funeral procession began on Sunday at 12:30 (04:30 GMT) as Mr Lee's body was taken from Parliament House on a gun carriage.
The funeral service is expected to begin at 14:00 at a cultural
centre in the west, with foreign leaders including former US President
Bill Clinton, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indonesian President
Joko Widodo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australian Prime
Minister Tony Abbott and UK House of Commons leader William Hague
attending.
The country will also observe a minute's silence in the
afternoon before singing the national anthem. The private cremation is
taking place at the Mandai crematorium.
Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is Lee Kuan Yew's son, has described the past week as a "deeply moving experience", saying Singaporeans had "expressed their grief overwhelmingly".
No comments:
Post a Comment
We reserve the right to delete any message found vulgarizing. Avoid crude or indecent texts..