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Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov has attended the state funeral service for the founding father of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, Tengrinews reports citing the press office of the Kazakh PM.
Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov has attended the state funeral service for the founding father of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, Tengrinews reports citing the press office of the Kazakh PM.
On behalf of the Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kazakhstan’s people, Karim Massimov expressed deep condolences to Lee Hsien Loong, the Singaporean Prime Minister and son of Lee Kuan Yew.
The state funeral service took place on Sunday, March 29 at the University Cultural Centre in Singapore and was attended by more than 2,000 people, including members of Mr. Lee's family, the President of Singapore and a number of world leaders.
“This has been a dark week for Singapore. The light that has guided us all these years has been extinguished. We have lost our founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who lived and breathed Singapore all his life,” Lee Hsien Loong said in his eulogy for his father.
Despite the torrential rain, tens of thousands of Singaporeans lined a nine-mile route at the streets to watch the funeral procession.
A private family cremation ceremony followed the state funeral service.
Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew passed away on March 23 at the age of 91 after being taken to hospital with severe pneumonia.
Following the announcement of Mr. Lee's death, hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans gathered near the Parliament House of Singapore to pay the tribute to Lee Kuan Yew.
A number of world leaders expressed deep sorrow over the death of a man behind the Singapore’s “economic miracle”, who ruled the country for more than three decades and over this period managed to turn once the backward country into one of the world’s wealthiest nations.
US President Barack Obama expressed his deep condolences on the death of the first leader of Singapore calling him “a true giant of history” and “one the great strategists of Asian affairs”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Lee Kuan Yew “a legendary figure in Asia”.
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev also expressed deep sadness on the death of Lee Kuan Yew in the telegram he sent to the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong.
"We met often, I considered him a good friend, I adopted his experience. Sharing the irretrievable loss on behalf of the people of Kazakhstan and on my own behalf I express my condolences to the family and friends, as well as all of the people of Singapore," he said in a telegram.
Nazarbayev also emphasized Mr. Lee's significant contribution into developing the strong ties between Kazakhstan and Singapore that would never be forgotten by the people of Kazakhstan.
By Assel Satubaldina