Singapore prepares for Lee Kuan Yew's final journey

After the procession, the funeral service will be held at the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore from 2pm to 5.15pm.

As part of the State funeral, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will be sounding the “All-Clear” signal twice, through its network of Public Warning System sirens, as a rallying call for the nation to observe a minute of silence.

This will be a first by the SCDF and signifies the nation’s deepest respect for Singapore's founding father. Upon the first sounding of the signal, members of the public are encouraged to begin observing the one minute of silence. The second sounding will signify the end of the minute of silence.

At the two land checkpoints, all individuals and vehicle checks will come to a halt to observe the minute of silence. 

Prior to the moment, all MRT trains will pull to a stop at stations and open their doors. Similarly, buses scheduled to depart from bus interchanges or terminals will be held back during the minute of silence.

In a Facebook post on Saturday evening, Hsien Loong thanked those who came to pay their last respects to Lee Kuan Yew at Parliament House, Sri Temasek, and the 18 islandwide community tribute sites.

He also thanked Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, uniformed officers, government agencies, The People's Association, community groups, private companies, volunteers and donors for their "hard work, help and compassion".

People lining up in queue, at times stretching up to eight hours, to pay their last respects to Lee Kuan Yew at Parliament House

The queue at Parliament House earlier in the day appeared to be shorter. As at 5pm, the waiting time was up to five hours. Some people, who took the priority queue meant for the elderly, the disabled and the very young, said the wait was about an hour on Saturday afternoon.

On Friday evening and the early hours of Saturday, the wait was as long as 10 hours at one point.

Due to the overwhelming crowd, the authorities had to turn people away from joining the line for safety reasons during the early hours of Saturday. The queue was reopened at 6.15am, after it was closed for eight hours. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network