19 Mar 2015

Founding father of Singapore critically ill

9:13 pm on 19 March 2015

Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, remains critically ill in hospital.

Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Photo: AFP

The 91-year-old has been in intensive care with severe pneumonia for six weeks.

Mr Lee is seen as the founding father of modern Singapore, which he led from 1959 until 1990.

He is widely credited with transforming the country from a sleepy British colonial outpost into a financial powerhouse with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world

His son, Lee Hsien Loong, has been Prime Minister since 2004.