SINGAPORE — Leaving Sri Temasek for the last time, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was given a send-off by eight personal staff who had served and worked closely with him at various points in his life.

“(They) represent the many who served him loyally over the years, including in the most tumultuous of times,” the Ministry of Communications and Information said today (March 25).

Among the pallbearers were Mrs Foo Su Bang, who is in charge of the Istana Household and prepared for courtesy calls on Mr Lee as part of her duties, as well as Mr Amran Ghani and Mr Ismail Rahim, who are Istana butlers, and Mr Wong Shang Hoon, a chef who has been with the Istana since 1963.

The others were Ms Wong Lin Hoe, one of Mr Lee’s Private Secretaries, Madam Yeong Yoon Ying, his Press Secretary of more than two decades, and two of Mr Lee’s former Principal Private Secretaries — Mr Lim Siong Guan and Mr Chee Hong Tat. Mr Lim was also the former Head of Civil Service while Mr Chee is currently the Second Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Sri Temasek is the Prime Minister’s official residence in the Istana. While Mr Lee and his family never lived there, it is where he and wife spent “many happy evenings” with their children and grandchildren, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong put it in a Facebook post yesterday.

At 8am today, the extended and immediate family members of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister gathered at Sri Temasek.

Mr Lee’s daughter Lee Wei Ling, as well as his two sons — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mr Lee Hsien Yang — and their families paid their respects individually. Dr Lee did not join in the rest of the proceedings as she was feeling unwell.

At 9am, Mr Lee’s casket was placed on a gun carriage and the funeral procession from Istana to Parliament House commenced, with Mr Lee’s grandsons Le Yipeng and Li Huanwu carrying a portrait of him and leading the 70m foot procession.

The procession passed an English-styled garden, the entrance of which was lined by a dozen Istana landscape technicians and horticulturalists. The carriage then came to a stop, and a bagpiper from the Singapore Gurkha Contingent played Auld Lang Syne.

President Tony Tan and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said their goodbyes at the Istana Plaza, along with 90 staff from the President’s Office, and the Prime Minister’s Office, and 24 Ceremonial Guards.

After leaving the Istana, the carriage embarked on a 2km route, passing through Orchard Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road on its way to Parliament House.

There, the casket was received by eight pallbearers representing the three branches of Government: The Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary. Among them were Mr Benny Lim, Permanent Secretary (National Development, National Security and Intelligence Coordination and the Prime Minister’s Office), Mr Aaron Maniam, director of industry division at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Mr See Kee Oon, Presiding Judge of the State Courts.

For the first time at a state funeral, the tri-service chiefs — Chief of Army Perry Lim, Chief of Navy Lai Chung Han and Chief of Air Force, Major-General Hoo Cher Mou — were part of the first Vigil Guards, which would also consist of Chief of Defence Force Ng Chee Meng and Brigadier-General Chia Choon Hoong, Chief of Staff-Joint Staff. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said today that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) paid its highest form of respect to Mr Lee.

“Because of Mr Lee’s vision and leadership, we have a strong SAF today that is able to protect Singapore,” Dr Ng wrote on Facebook.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, we reported Brigadier-General Chia Choon Hoong's rank as Major-General. This is incorrect. His rank is Brigadier-General. We are sorry for the error.