Modi to attend Lee Kuan Yew funeral

In this March 23, 2015 photo, a security guard stands at the gate of Singapore High Commission in New Delhi as Singapore’s national flag is hung at half-mast as a mark of respect for the country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew who died at the age of 91.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the funeral of Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Sunday. An MEA statement said the PM would officiate at the state funeral “on behalf of the people and Government of India.”

Mr. Lee died on Monday at the age of 91, after being hospitalised with pneumonia.

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Lee Kuan Yew

Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, often described as the "shrewdest politician of the region," was the head of Singapore's Government since 1959. Here is a profile of Mr. Lee published in The Hindu on May 16, 1969. > Read more

>‘Lee Kuan Yew didn’t dislike India, he was disappointed by India’

• › Born in Singapore on September 16, 1923. Lee came from a middle-class Chinese Hakka family which had been established in Singapore since his great grandfather migrated to the island in the mid-19th century.
• › November 12, 1954: Together with a group of fellow English-educated middle-class men, Lee formed the ‘socialist’ People’s Action Party (PAP) in alliance with the pro-communist trade unionists.
• › May 30, 1959: National elections held, in which PAP won 43 of the 51 seats. Singapore gained self-government with autonomy in all matters except defence and foreign affairs.
• › June 3, 1959: Lee became the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
• › September 16, 1963: Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak merge and Malaysia was formed.
• › August 9, 1965: Singapore exits Federation of Malaysia, at Malaysia’s invitation, amid political and ethnic tensions. Parliament of Singapore passed the Republic of Singapore Independence Act, making itself a sovereign republic.
• › November 28, 1990: After leading the PAP to victory in seven elections, Lee stepped down on, handing over the prime ministership to Goh Chok Tong.