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These are the people who were Lee Kuan Yew's final escorts

Nicholas Yong

Hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans paid their respects to the late Lee Kuan Yew as his body lay in state at Parliament House, queuing for hours for those precious moments of tribute.

But a select group of individuals had the honour of escorting the coffin as it made its way from Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre to Mandai Crematorium.

While the casket itself was borne by senior officers from the Singapore Armed Forces and the Singapore Police Force as it was transported on its final journey, some 32 pall bearers also followed in the cortege's wake.

These men and women were carefully selected to reflect the different fields in which Mr Lee made special contributions.

Sending off from Parliament House

Mr Lee was sent off from Parliament House by eight of the late Mr Lee’s parliamentary colleagues, both current and former.

They included former Members of Parliament:

  • Mahmud Awang, the first Chairman of the National Trades Union Congress, who represented Kampong Kapor from 1963 to 1968

  • Chan Chee Seng, who represented Jalan Besar from 1959 to 1982 and was the Government Whip in the 1960's and 1970's

  • Chiam See Tong, Secretary-General of the opposition Singapore People’s Party, who represented Potong Pasir from 1984 to 2011.

Current Members of Parliament represented were:

  • Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence and Leader of the House, MP since 2001

  • Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health and Government Whip, MP since 2001

  • Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State for Finance and for Transport, MP since 2006

  • Mohamad Maliki bin Osman, Minister of State for National Development, and for Defence, MP since 2011.

They were also joined by Nominated Member of Parliament K Karthikeyan, a veteran union leader and vice-president of NTUC.

Receiving at University Cultural Centre

16 pall bearers that reflected the range and depth of the late Mr Lee’s legacy received the cortege at University Cultural Centre. They were:

  • Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam

  • Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Secretary General of the National Trades Union Congress Lim Swee Say

  • John De Payva, the longest-serving President of NTUC from 1997 to 2001,and  a former Nominated Member of Parliament

  • Diana Chia, a veteran unionist and current President of NTUC

  • Dr Chan Heng Chee, Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States from 1996 to 2012

  • SSG (Ret) Kang Lye Teck, who was amongst the first National Servicemen to be enlisted in 1967

  • NSPI Samuel Lee, who received the Sword of Merit and was Company Commander during his time at TRACOM

  • Gurmit Singh, President of the Inter-Religious Organisation

  • Tan Gee Paw, Chairman of PUB since 2001 and former Permanent Secretary of the then-Ministry of Environment

  • Pok Sheung Foo, who was part of the tteam which studied and planned for Singapore’s first MRT lines in the 1970's and 80's

  • Wong Siew Hoong, an educator since 1984 and the incoming Director General of Education

  • Qurratu ‘Ain binte Aminurrashid, a Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP Award) recipient

  • Lim Hwee Ling, a Nurse Clinician at SGH

  • Dorothy Han, who has been at Keppel FELS for 25 years 

  • Ann Marie Leong, a flight stewardess with Singapore Airlines 

  • Wong Tuan Wah, Director for Conservation at NParks, and who oversees the late Mr Lee’s much beloved Istana Gardens

Sending off from University Cultural Centre

Eight pall bearers with a connection to Tanjong Pagar were selected to send off Mr Lee from the University Cultural Centre. They included some of the late Mr Lee’s stalwart political comrades and his closest grassroots leaders.

Mr Lee represented Tanjong Pagar from 1955 to 2011, both in the Legislative Assembly and as Member of Parliament. 

The pall bearers were:

  • Ch’ng Jit Koon, who represented Tiong Bahru and later Bukit Merah from 1968 to 1996

  • Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee, who represented Tiong Bahru from 1991 to 2011

  • Ho Nai Chuen, a long-serving grassroots leader, and current Chairman of the Tanjong Pagar Citizens’ Consultative Committee

  • Gopalakrishnan Kathamuthu, current chairman of Tanjong Pagar Indian Activity Executive Committee

  • Low Cher Hock, chairman of Tanjong Pagar Traders’ Association

  • Fauziah Mohd Mizh, secretary of the Tanjong Pagar Neighbourhood Committee

  • Mohammed Taufiq Zufaqar, a Primary Five student from the first batch of students who registered at Cantonment Primary School in 2011. He was accompanied by his mother Salina Ibrahim, who recently received her 10-year Long Service Award as a grassroots leader in the Tiong Bahru constituency

  • Jordan Ryan Wong Jun Yu, a PCF Kindergarten Two student. He was accompanied by his father Wong Chee Keen, a lifelong resident of Tanjong Pagar GRC