Singapore’s longest-serving president dies at age 92

“His was a story of how a young boy strove to triumph over his circumstances and make a contribution to society”.

PM Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching speaking with former Singapore president S.R. Nathan’s daughter Juthika Ramanathan at the wake on Aug 23.

“I have known Mr Nathan for nearly 40 years. He was a true son of Singapore”, Lee added.

Mr Nathan had a varied and stellar public service career.

After stepping down as President, Nathan took up appointments as Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and at the Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences.

During his time in Ministry of Defence (Singapore), he risked his life in the Laju hijacking incident, in exchange for the safe release of Singaporean hostages.

“This fearless act was instrumental in ensuring the safety of the hostages while not undermining Singapore’s sovereignty”, he said.

Describing Mr Nathan as “warm, gracious and well-loved by Singaporeans”, Mr Ong noted he became the sixth president of Singapore at age 75. Ramadoss said that Nathan guided Singapore on the path to progress, and that his death is an “immeasurable loss”.

“On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I offer deep condolences to the people of Singapore and to President Nathan’s family”, Mukherjee said.

“He served Singapore with distinction”. All Overseas Missions would also provide the condolence boards for overseas Singaporeans and friends. Lee (64) underwent a series of medical checks late on Sunday and early on Monday and “doctors have confirmed there were no cardiac abnormalities and no stroke”, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Lauding the departed leaders services to his nation, Karunanidhi, in a statement, said Nathan served Singapore in various capacities. His complete absence of airs.

He was also seen serving as Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large and later served as the pro-chancellor of the National University of Singapore.

“To build this capacity, Mr Nathan came to NTUC and helped set up the Labour Research Unit”.