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Religious congregations pay homage to Mr Lee Kuan Yew

SINGAPORE — Congregations at a Toa Payoh mosque and a church in Victoria Street paid separate tributes to Mr Lee Kuan Yew today (March 27).

The crowd at the Saint Joseph's Church who came to pay tribute to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Photo: Low Weixin

The crowd at the Saint Joseph's Church who came to pay tribute to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Photo: Low Weixin

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SINGAPORE — Congregations at a Toa Payoh mosque and a church in Victoria Street paid separate tributes to Mr Lee Kuan Yew today (March 27).

At Muhajirin Mosque, a special mention was made of Mr Lee’s contributions to the Malay-Muslim community following the Friday afternoon prayers.

Over at St Joseph’s Church, about 5,000 people turned up for the mass service in memory of Mr Lee. With the church having just about 1,000 seats, many people followed the service from the car park area of the church.

In his Friday sermon, Uztaz Irwan Hadi Md Shuhaimy, who had earlier led the prayers, said the founding Prime Minister had played a pivotal role in Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society.

“At the international level, he (Mr Lee) led a team of leaders who worked with him to develop Singapore to become a prosperous country that is envied by many.

“This was achieved, among others, through the harmonious relationship between people of different races, economic development and an excellent education system,” Uztaz Irwan Hadi said.

Minister for Communications and Information Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, who was also at the mosque, said the Malay-Muslim community “owed a great debt” to Mr Lee.

“He was always very concerned about what was happening with the Malay-Muslim community, constantly trying to understand us better. He would ask, ‘What more can be done?’” said the Minister-In-Charge of Muslim Affairs.

Meanwhile, Archbishop William Goh told the congregation at St Joseph Church: “... Even as we are sad that we have lost someone whom we admire and are grateful to ... it is important to remember Lee Kuan Yew has fought a good fight and run the race ... ”

The Archbishop noted that Mr Lee had the fortitude and perseverance to stand by his convictions, even if not everyone agreed with some of his policy choices, such as family planning, the stop-at-two-children policy, abortion and legalisation of casinos.

“We can certainly disagree with him, but he was faithful to what he believed in ... this man would do everything to protect the existence of Singapore and the people,” he added.

Ms Irene Kang, 59, a logistics manager who took half a day off to attend the service, said: “He is a great man who has done a lot for Singapore. I know we have to wait about six to eight hours at Parliament House, so I decided to come down here instead to pray for him.”

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