NUS pays last respects

The lying in state of Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament House (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore)

Two hundred NUS students, staff and alumni took time off from their books and work to pay their final respects to Singapore's founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew on 25 March 2015, the first day of Mr Lee's lying in state at the Parliament House.

Among them was first-year NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) student Ho Hui Min who said: "It was heart-warming to witness Singaporeans uniting as one people, one nation, and paying our last respects to Singapore's founding father.

Echoing her sentiments, Timothy Chiah, also a first-year FASS student added: "Singaporeans from all walks of life came out in full force today despite the sweltering heat to pay their last respects to Mr Lee. Even in passing, he unites us as one Singapore.

Both Hui Min and Timothy had made Get Well cards for Mr Lee when he was hospitalised in the Singapore General Hospital.

The nation's founding father, who passed away at age 91 on 23 March, has been accorded the highest form of respect'the traditional mounting of vigil guards during the lying in state period. Mr Lee's coffin was transported from the Istana via a gun carriage to the Parliament House on 25 March and will lie in state until Sunday, 29 March.

A widely respected leader, Mr Lee successfully transformed Singapore from a British dependency to a thriving nation in the course of one generation. He was Singapore's first Prime Minister from 1959 till 1990, after which he became Senior Minister, then Minister Mentor till 2011.

Mr Lee studied at NUS' predecessor institution Raffles College (now Bukit Timah Campus) between 1940 and 1941, and was conferred an honorary NUS Doctor of Laws in June 2013. He had earlier received the inaugural NUS Eminent Alumni Award in 2005.

The Singapore government will be holding a State Funeral Service for Mr Lee on 29 March, at the University Cultural Centre at NUS' Kent Ridge Campus. The event will be attended by the late Mr Lee's family and friends, Cabinet Ministers, business leaders, foreign dignitaries, as well as members of the Singapore community. NUS Chairman Mr Wong Ngit Liong, NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, and NUS Students' Union President Lim Kok Seng are expected to be among the NUS representatives at the state event.

NUS students, staff and alumni boarding chartered buses to attend the lying in state of Mr Lee Kuan Yew