World Mourn the Death of Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s former prime minister and founding father of modern Singapore passed away early Monday morning at the age of 91. It was just half a century after he led the tiny Asian city-state to independence in 1965.

As Singapore’s first prime minister, Mr Lee ruled the island nation from 1959 for three decades, overseeing the transformation of Singapore from a colony into one of the most remarkable economic Asian giants of the 20th century.

Depending on the World Bank, his Political democratization helped propel Singapore from an economically deprived port city of the 1950s with per-capita gross domestic product of just $550 to an Asian financial powerhouse with GDP per-capita of $55,000.

World leaders extended condolences over the death of him. “I am sad to hear of the death of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He personally shaped Singapore in a way that few people get any notion. He made his country into one of the great success stories of our contemporary world. ” British Prime Minister David Cameron declared in a statement.

“That Singapore is today a prosperous, secure and successful country is a monument to his decades of remarkable public service, ” he added.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday mourned the passing of modern Singapore’s founding father and paid tribute to an “exceptional statesman” who “has made Singapore one of the major economic centers in Asia.”