Lee Kuan Yew funeral delegation announced
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Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 25, 2015) — The U.S. delegation to attend the State Funeral Service of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, founding Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, was announced Thursday. The White House Office of the Press Secretary announced President Barack Obama’s designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the funeral on March 29, 2015.
Former President William Clinton will lead the delegation.
The other delegation members will include U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore Kirk Wagar; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore Steven Green; and former Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Thomas Donilon.
Lee Kuan Yew passed away Monday, March 22, 2015. He was 91 and had reportedly been suffering from pneumonia.
Recognized as the founding father of modern Singapore, Lee was born on Sept. 16, 1923 in Singapore while it was under colonial rule from Great Britain. Lee was educated in law at Cambridge University, and co-founded the People’s Action Party, which would successfully advocate independence from Great Britain in a Malaysia merger agreement in 1963, and total independence in 1965.
Lee is credited with Singapore’s rapid growth although he was criticized for maintaining a strong single party government. He was succeeded by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1990, and then his own son, Lee Hsien Loong, became the third prime minister in 2004. Lee continued to serve in a senior minister advisory capacity for the remainder of his life.
The body of the late Mr Lee will lie in state at the Parliament House from March 25-28 March 2015. A State Funeral Procession will bear the coffin from Parliament House to the National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre for the State Funeral Service on March 29. It will be followed by a private cremation at Mandai Crematorium.
The Singapore government has set up a memorial page on Facebook. There is also information on the official government page.
