President
Benigno S. Aquino III condoled with the people of Singapore as he
signed the Book of Condolences Friday for the late Singaporean Prime
Minister Lee Kuan Yew who died Monday at age 91.
Among
those who received the President at the Singapore Embassy in Bonifacio
Global City in Taguig City were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del
Rosario and Scott Loh Chee Heong, the embassy's Charge d' Affaires.
The
President arrived at the embassy's multi-purpose hall around 4 p.m.
Friday and was ushered in front of the signing table, where a picture of
the late Singaporean leader was positioned for a moment of prayer.
"I,
along with the Filipino people, stand in solidarity with Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong and the people of Singapore in this time of grieving,
as we all honor Lee Kuan Yew, whose steady and efficient leadership and
whose bold vision transformed Singapore into the city-state that it is
today," the President's condolence message read.
Lee,
Singapore's founding father, died at the Singapore General Hospital,
where he had been admitted for severe pneumonia since February 5. Lee
would have turned 92 this September.
He left behind
his sons, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 63, and Lee Hsien Yang, 57;
daughter Dr. Lee Wei Ling, 60; daughters-in-law Ho Ching, 61, and Lee
Suet-Fern, 56; seven grandchildren and two siblings. His wife, Madam Kwa
Geok Choo, died in 2010 at the age of 89.
Lee is
widely regarded as the man most instrumental in shaping Singapore. He
and his People's Action Party colleagues pushed for self-government in
the 1950s, worked to merge with Malaysia in the early 1960s, and strived
to secure the country's survival after independence on August 9,1965.
He
led a pioneer generation of Singaporeans to overcome a series of
daunting challenges that confronted his country from rehousing squatters
in affordable public housing, rebuilding the economy after the sudden
pull-out of British forces and the oil shocks of the 1970s, and a major
economic recession in the mid-1980s.
Lee served as
Singapore's prime minister for 31 years, from 1959 to 1990. At the age
of 67, he chose to hand over the premiership to Goh Chok Tong, and took
on the role of senior minister, serving as guide and mentor in the
Cabinet.
When Prime Minister Lee took charge in
2004, the elder Lee became Minister Mentor, spending time thinking about
the long-term challenges facing Singapore. - PNA— KBAPI
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