Lee Kuan Yew lies in state in Parliament as Singapore bids farewell to city-state's founder

Members of the public take pictures and shout "Thank you, Mr Lee!" as the coffin of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew leaves Istana, or Presidential Palace on a ceremonial gun carriage to lie in state at parliament, Wednesday, March 25, 2015 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair) (The Associated Press)

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A portrait of the late Lee Kuan Yew is placed at the foot of his coffin where he will lie in state at the Parliament House for four days, Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Singapore. Singapore mourned longtime leader Lee with raw emotion and a blanket of relentlessly positive coverage on its tightly scripted state television on Monday, mythologizing a man who was as respected as he was feared. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) (The Associated Press)

A man holds up the national flag of Singapore as others grieve while paying respects to the late Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament House where he will lie in state for four days, Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Singapore. Singapore mourned longtime leader Lee with raw emotion and a blanket of relentlessly positive coverage on its tightly scripted state television on Monday, mythologizing a man who was as respected as he was feared. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) (The Associated Press)

SINGAPORE – Singaporeans stood in silence Wednesday as a Lee Kuan Yew's coffin traveled on a ceremonial gun carriage a short distance from the presidential palace to Parliament, where the public will pay respects to the city-state's founder before a funeral this weekend.

Lee, 91, died Monday at Singapore General Hospital after more than a month of battling severe pneumonia. The government declared a week of mourning for the leader who is credited with transforming the resource-poor island into a wealthy finance and trade hub with low crime and corruption in a region saddled with graft, instability and poverty.

Hundreds of mourners lined the street outsides the presidential palace, where Lee's remains lay at a two-day private wake, as the carriage with his coffin draped with a Singapore flag in a glass case was escorted by Singapore's prime minister and his eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, and other children.

Many raised smartphones to record the procession and some were heard chanting Lee's name quietly and others applauded. Roads nearby were closed despite peak-hour traffic.

Lee will lie in state in Parliament ahead of a state funeral at the National University of Singapore on Sunday.