Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew’s condition worsens

World Today

Lee Kuan YewFILE – In this March 20, 2013 file photo, Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew attends the Standard Chartered Singapore Forum in Singapore. The condition of Singapore’s 91-year-old founding father, Lee, has worsened as he remains at the hospital where he has been treated for nearly six weeks, the government said Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s condition has “worsened due to an infection” and he is on antibiotics, according to a statement by Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Tuesday.

The PMO statement said doctors are closely monitoring his condition.

Lee has been in hospital since Feb. 5, when he was admitted for severe pneumonia.

The PMO said in the statement released earlier that Lee remained sedated and on mechanical ventilation in the ICU at Singapore General Hospital.

Lee’s “condition has worsened due to an infection. He is on antibiotics. The doctors are closely monitoring his condition,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement posted on its website.

Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee ruled for 31 years until 1990, and has been credited with transforming the city-state from a sleepy tropical port to a wealthy, bustling financial hub with one of the highest average incomes in the world.

Lee commands immense respect among Singaporeans, who this year will celebrate the country’s 50th independence anniversary.

Story produced with information from Xinhua, The Associated Press and CNN.