Concern over health of Singapore's Lee
AFP, October 4, 2010
SINGAPORE (AFP) - – Singaporeans paid tribute on Monday to the late wife of founding leader Lee Kuan Yew amid growing concern over the elder statesman's own health.
Kwa Geok Choo, 89, died after a long illness on Saturday while her husband was undergoing treatment in hospital for a chest infection following a working trip to Europe, one of several missions he continues to carry out each year.
Lee, a fitness buff who turned 87 on September 16, has not appeared in public since his wife of 63 years died.
The couple's physician daughter Lee Wei Ling, 55, was reportedly at her mother's bedside when she passed away.
Their son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 58, immediately flew back from Brussels, skipping an Asia-Europe summit due to start Monday.
Kwa's body lay in state at the Istana government complex on Monday, where members of the public can pay their respects until a private funeral on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the Istana awaiting security checks by dozens of policemen, after which they boarded buses that ferried them to a British colonial bungalow at the top of a hill where Kwa's body lay.
Outside the bungalow, mourners shielded by umbrellas fanned themselves in the humid weather, shepherded along by volunteers wearing formal white shirts and black trousers, as foreign embassy cars drove past.
A large colour portrait of Kwa's smiling face was placed at the foot of her light brown coffin, decorated with white and pink roses in a softly-lit room as visitors bowed and said quiet prayers in groups of 16.
Prime Minister Lee -- clad in a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers -- stood beside the coffin with his wife Ho Ching and acknowledged visitors with brief nods as classical string music played in the background.
"I feel so sad... I cried when I heard the news that she passed on," said mourner Phua Lek Hia, a retiree whose family had owned a seafood stall that Kwa used to patronise.
Government and hospital spokesmen declined comment on Lee Kuan Yew's whereabouts Monday.
The former premier, who stepped down in 1990, still wields tremendous influence as a cabinet adviser with the special title of "Minister Mentor" and serves as a global envoy for the city-state he led to independence in 1965.
Ordinary Singaporeans urged Lee -- popularly known as "MM Lee" -- to take care of his health in an outpouring of support for the family on the web.
"MM Lee, stay strong, take good care of your health," a reader who signed off as Jenny Tan wrote on popular portal xinmsn.
Yahoo Singapore reader Yuen Shya wrote: "To MM Lee, the father of our nation, please hang in there. We love you!"
Dissident website The Temasek Review said a growing number of its readers were urging Lee to retire following his wife's death -- a call likely to be ignored.
In an interview for an upcoming book, excerpts of which were published in the Straits Times on Monday, Lee said he was prepared for his wife's death.
"I cannot choose how I'm going to go. I just carry on my life and that's that. If you start thinking about it, you will go downhill. Every day is a bonus, so let's carry on," Lee said.
Eugene Tan, a law professor at the Singapore Management University, told AFP that concerns over Lee's health were understandable but stressed the veteran leader's "stoicism and sense of duty."
"MM Lee is in a robust state of health for someone his age," Tan said, adding that "it may well be that MM Lee will now devote all his time and energy to his life project, Singapore."
I very much like to have another holiday. 
