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