S’pore on edge as LKY’s condition worsens
SINGAPORE: The health of independent Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew has worsened, the government said yesterday as one of the foremost figures of 20th century Asia struggled with severe pneumonia.
The 91-year-old, widely credited with transforming the city-state from a relative backwater into one of Asia’s wealthiest economies, has been in Singapore General Hospital since Feb 5 and is being aided by mechanical ventilation, a form of life support.
“Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s condition has worsened,” the office of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in a terse midday statement. The government said earlier in the week that he was already critically ill. Floral tributes and cards dedicated to Lee have started to pile up outside the hospital as Singaporeans showed affection for the authoritarian leader who modernised Singapore but was criticised by rights advocates for his iron-fisted rule.
“I cannot bear just sitting at home and listening to the news, not being able to do anything,” retiree Phua Siew Lian, 88, said as she set a bouquet of sunflowers at a designated spot outside the hospital building where Lee is being cared for under tight security. Lee was prime minister from 1959, when colonial ruler Britain granted Singapore self-rule, to 1990. He led Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia.
His deteriorating health has cast a pall over preparations for the citystate’s 50th anniversary of independence on Aug 9.
“He deserves to at least see the country he built turn fifty. I’m praying for you sir,” netizen Khalina wrote yesterday on Twitter, using the hashtag #GetWellSoonLKY. — AFP