Lee Kuan Yew: 1923 - 2015

Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, one of the towering figures of post-colonial Asian politics, died Monday after a long illness, plunging the city-state he steered to prosperity into mourning.

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Singapore's first prime minister and elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew has died at the age of 91. AFP PHOTO/MOHD FYROL

Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew dies at 91

This file photo taken on April 28, 2006 shows Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (R) with his wife Kwa Geok Choo arriving at the Foreign Correspondents Gala Dinner in Singapore. AFP PHOTO / FILES / ROSLAN RAHMAN

Singapore, March 23, AFP – Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, one of the towering figures of post-colonial Asian politics, died Monday after a long illness, plunging the city-state he steered to prosperity into mourning.

Lee's son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in a statement that he was "deeply grieved" to announce the passing of his 91-year-old father at the Singapore General Hospital.

He declared a seven-day period of national mourning before the late leader is cremated on March 29.

Lee's remains will first be taken to the Istana state complex for a two-day private family wake before lying in state at Parliament House for five days for the public to pay their respects.

Lee, whose health rapidly deteriorated after his wife died in 2010, was in hospital for nearly seven weeks with severe pneumonia.

He served as prime minister from 1959, when colonial ruler Britain granted Singapore self-rule, to 1990, leading Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia.

In 1959, Dwight Eisenhower was the US president, and when Lee stepped down,the first George Bush was in the White House.

The widely revered Singapore patriarch's passing is also likely to cast a pall over preparations for the city-state's 50th anniversary of independence on August 9.

This photograph provided by the Straits Times and taken on September 3, 1972 shows Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party toured the constituencies in Chinatown to thank voters for their support in the general election in Singapore . AFP PHOTO / STR / THE STRAITS TIMES

On Lee's watch, Singapore became a sea trade, air transport and financial hub as well as a high-tech industrial centre, prospering despite its compact size and lack of basic natural resources.

On the diplomatic front, Lee's counsel was often sought by Western leaders, particularly on China – which Lee identified early as a driver of world economic growth – as well as more volatile neighbours in Southeast Asia.

But the British-trained lawyer was also criticised for jailing political opponents and driving his critics to self-imposed exile or financial ruin as a result of costly libel suits.

Singapore strictly controls freedom of speech and assembly and, while it has become more liberal in recent years, still uses corporal punishment for crimes considered relatively minor elsewhere, such as spraying graffiti.

Lee stepped down in 1990 in favour of his deputy Goh Chok Tong , who in turn handed the reins to the former leader's eldest child Lee Hsien Loong  in 2004.

US President George W. Bush (R) shakes hands with Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. in 2006 AFP PHOTO / FILES / Jim WATSON

The People's Action Party (PAP), which was co-founded by the elder Lee, has won every election since 1959 and currently holds 80 of the 87 seats in parliament.

Lee retired from advisory roles in government in 2011 after the PAP suffered its worst poll result since it came to power, getting only 60 percent of votes cast amid public anger over a large influx of immigrants, the rising cost of living, urban congestion and insufficient supply of public housing.

In his last book "One Man's View of the World", published in 2013, Lee looked back at his remarkable career and concluded: "I am not given to making sense out of life – or coming up with some grand narrative on it – other than to measure it by what you think you want to do in life."

"As for me, I have done what I had wanted to, to the best of my ability. I am satisfied."

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