23 March 2015

The Ministry of Education (MOE) told the media on Monday afternoon that flags at MOE schools flew at half-mast from the morning, as a mark of respect to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew after he died at 3.18am. He died at the Singapore General Hospital where he had been warded for severe pneumonia since Feb 5.

Teachers, staff and students from Government schools and post-secondary educational institutions (PSEIs), and MOE headquarters staff will participate in state events such as the Lying-in-State, Special Parliament Sitting and the State Funeral Service.

Mr Lee became Singapore’s first Prime Minister after the People’s Action Party (PAP) won the general elections on 30 May 1959 by an impressive margin of 43 out of 51 Legislative Assembly seats. He was sworn in on 03 June 1959, taking over from former Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock. With a new legislature in place, Singapore gained internal self-government from the British with jurisdiction over all matters except for defence and foreign affairs. Subsequently, Singapore joined the Federation of Malaya together with Sarawak and North Borneo on 16 September 1963. But Singapore’s conflicts with Malaysia proved too much to handle. Singapore finally left Malaysia and gained full sovereignty of 09 August 1965.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew held the post of Prime Minister until he was succeeded by Mr Goh Chok Tong on 28 November 1990. He had served as Prime Minister for a total of 31 years. Mr Lee was conferred the title of Senior Minister during Mr Goh’s reign, and then, he held the title of Minister Mentor from 12 August 2004 to 21 May 2011. Mr Lee stood for his final general election in 2011, and had a walkover in his constituency, Tanjong Pagar GRC. Currently, the other Members of Parliament (MPs) for Tanjong Pagar GRC are Indranee Thurai Rajah, Lily Neo, Chan Chun Sing and Chia Shi-Lu.