Foreign dignitaries and the people of Singapore today mourned the loss of Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew at the island state’s University Cultural Centre.

Lee, 91, died last Monday morning after suffering from pneumonia.

Dignitaries, including former British foreign secretary William Hague, former US president Bill Clinton, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, joined 2,200 guests at the state funeral service, marking the culmination of seven days of mourning.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, son of the late statesman, gave an emotional eulogy about the elder Lee’s legacy both domestically and internationally, recounting stories of his dedication and frugality.

“He inspired all of us to give all our best, and he was constantly thinking about Singapore,” Lee Hsien Loong said.

The prime minister choked up as he spoke about his childhood with his father, and the early political education he had, recounting his memories with the elder Lee during Singapore’s nation-building years.

“I remember the day he told me, while we were playing golf at the Istana, that should anything happen to him, he wanted me to look after my mother, and my younger brother, and sister,” he said.

“Mr Lee’s ideals were clear. He believed in them, and he lived them,” said Singapore’s President Tony Tan.

“There will never be another Lee Kuan Yew. No one person can take his place, and what he did ... Now is the time for us, to take up the torch, to further the ideals to which Singapore was built, and to make them our own.”

Nearly 455,000 people paid their respects at Parliament House, where Lee Kuan Yew lay in state - and approximately 1.1 million people have visited community mourning sites around the island.

Former prime minister and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said: “This shared, compassionate moment, is the people’s tribute to Mr Lee.”

Goh later said: “Let us stay united, across race, language, religion, across young and old, across rich and poor, across our whole society, to write an exciting sequel to his and our Singapore Story.”

A minute of silence was observed in Singapore after the end of the funeral, before Lee’s cremation in a private ceremony.

- dpa