Government taken aback by number of people turning out to honor leader who transformed nation

Singaporeans wept on the streets and lined up in their thousands on Wednesday to pay tribute to founding leader Lee Kuan Yew as his flag-draped coffin was transported on a gun carriage to the parliament building for public viewing.

After a two-day private wake for the family, the coffin was taken in a slow motorcade from the Istana government complex, Lee's workplace for decades as prime minister and Cabinet adviser, to the legislature, where it will lie in state until the weekend.

The 91-year-old patriarch died on Monday after half a century in government, during which Singapore was transformed from a poor British colonial outpost into one of the world's richest societies.

His son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's government, apparently taken by surprise by the heavy early turnout, announced that Parliament House will stay open 24 hours a day until Saturday night "due to overwhelming response from members of the public".

Applause and shouts of "We love you!" and "Lee Kuan Yew!" broke out as the dark brown wooden coffin, draped in the red-and-white Singapore flag, emerged from the Istana housed in a tempered glass case on a gun carriage pulled by an open-topped military vehicle.

Many raised smartphones to record the procession. Roads nearby were closed despite peak-hour traffic.

Outside Parliament, people formed a line several kilometers long to view Lee's body, some carrying umbrellas to protect against the sun. Many waited several hours for a chance to get in.

"He has contributed all his life to the country, and we respect him for what he has done. Look at Singapore now, without him, we are not here today," said Irene Kang, who came to pay her respects.

Earlier, in scenes that evoked Singapore's colonial past, Lee's coffin stopped in front of the complex's main building, where British administrators once worked, as a bagpiper from Singapore's Gurkha Contingent - the city-state's special guard force - played Auld Lang Syne.

It was brought down tree-lined Edinburgh Road to the Istana's main gate, where the motorcade made a slow turn in the direction of parliament as a crowd, including students in uniform with black armbands, waited behind barricades.

President Tony Tan and his wife Mary were the first to pay their respects after Lee's closed coffin was placed in the foyer of Parliament House.

Local media said Singaporeans began forming a line after midnight Tuesday for a chance to be among the first to pay their respects to the man popularly known by his initials "LKY".

By the afternoon, people were waiting for up to eight hours in lines that snaked around the central business district, many with umbrellas unfurled in the 33 C heat.

They came from all walks of life - office workers, bosses, students and the elderly in wheelchairs accompanied by caregivers.

"These are amazing scenes. I have not seen anything like this in my lifetime," bank executive Zhang Wei Jie, 36, said. "LKY is the founder of our country. It is a no-brainer that we have to pay respect. We have taken some time off from work, my supervisor is also here somewhere in the crowd."

AP - AFP