By Huileng Tan, Eric Yep and P.R. Venkat
SINGAPORE-- Google Inc. added an image of a black ribbon to its
local website, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. kept its building logos dark
and school children observed a minute of silence.
Throughout Singapore on Tuesday, people paid tribute to Lee Kuan
Yew, the country's first prime minister, on the second day of
mourning after his death.
More than 6,000 people have queued to pay respects or sign
condolence books at a community center in Ang Mo Kio, a heartlands
constituency held by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, eldest son of
the late Mr. Lee. It is one of dozens of sites across the
country.
Many children were among those leaving messages for Mr. Lee and
his family. "Everyone is sad that you died," one child wrote. "You
have already done your best for our country."
Wang Liping, a 70-year-old illiterate cleaning woman, was one of
those who recalled how Mr. Lee had shaped her life. Mr. Lee once
visited her village, she said, and helped her three children get
financial aid for education. Today, all three are university
graduates with good jobs.
"Our lives are all much easier because of him," she said. "I was
planning to let my children drop out of school because we had no
money."
Foreign dignitaries and leaders are also expected to arrive
later in the week to attend Mr. Lee's funeral. Among those who said
they would attend are Indonesian President Joko Widodo and
Philippines' Senate President Franklin M. Drilon.
Mr. Lee, who led Singapore for 31 years and is widely credited
with transforming the former British outpost into a global trade
and finance powerhouse, died at Singapore General Hospital early
Monday. The Singapore government declared a seven-day period of
national mourning and Parliament will hold a special session on
Thursday to pay tribute to Mr. Lee, who was still a serving member
of parliament at his death. A state funeral will be held on
Sunday.
Outside Parliament House, people left messages for Mr. Lee and
his family on condolence cards.
"#No Yew No Us, thank you RIP," one said in English. "A great
man who transformed the fortunes of Singapore, we will always
remember," another said in Chinese.
A private wake took place Tuesday morning at Istana, the
presidential palace and official residence of the prime minister,
where Mr. Lee's family, friends and colleagues gathered. Among
those attending were Singapore President Tony Tan and Hong Kong
billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Foreign companies and local firms made arrangements for their
employees to pay tribute to Mr. Lee, whose body will lie in state
at Parliament House from Wednesday to Saturday.
A General Motors spokeswoman said that while its office will
remain open, the company told its Singapore employees they are not
expected to come to work on Friday so they can pay their respects
in a personal way.
DBS, Singapore's largest bank by assets, said that in addition
to keeping the bank's building logo dark, its flags at overseas
locations will be flown at half-mast. Citi said it would also turn
off its logo lights and has organized transport for employees in
far-flung offices to visit tribute sites. Hewlett-Packard said it
would distribute condolence books internally and allow staff time
to pay their respects.
Schools in Singapore also flew flags at half-mast and observed a
minute's silence. Train stations replaced advertisements with
screens showing Mr. Lee's name and years of his birth and
death.
"We arrived yesterday and heard of his passing, so we bought
some flowers and came to pay our respects," said Australian tourist
Slavka Tanasoska outside Parliament House.
Newley Purnell and Jake Maxwell Watts contributed to this
article.
Write to Huileng Tan at huileng.tan@wsj.com, Eric Yep at
eric.yep@wsj.com and P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com
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