article_snippet: (CNN)Thousands of Singaporeans gathered in pouring rain Sunday to bid farewell to Lee Kuan Yew, the Southeast Asian city-state's founding prime minister who charted its spectacular economic rise.
article_snippet: us have lost us founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, who lived and breathed Singapore all his life," Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is one of Lee's sons, said in a eulogy.
article_snippet: Born in 1923, Lee co-founded Singapore, a former British colony, in 1965 when it declared it independence from Malaysia.
article_snippet: Lee served as it prime minister for more than three decades, shaping the once poor trading post into a wealthy financial center.
article_snippet: Lee continued to play an important role in government until Lee final years.
article_snippet: Together, we celebrate Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's long and full life, and what he has achieved with we, he people," he son said in his son eulogy.
article_snippet: Lee was also honored by a 21-gun salute and a minute of silence, as well as displays by the Singapore Air Force and the Singapore Navy.
article_snippet: Although Lee is admired for the economic success Lee helped Singapore achieve, Lee also drew criticism for curbing media freedoms and the treatment of political opponents.
article_snippet: While remembering Lee deeds that helped build Singapore up to what it is today, the government should also mark the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, by making a break from the politics of yesteryear that were too often marked by restrictions on basic civil and political rights," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said in a statement Sunday.