A teary goodbye to a statesman who gave his all for Singapore

Singapore

THE waiting time stretched to two hours and the blazing sun was unforgiving at times - but that didn't deter thousands of people from queueing patiently on Thursday for their turn to enter Parliament House, where the body of former president SR Nathan was lying in state.

Most bowed their heads as they stood in front of the casket. Some wept openly. One man said a silent prayer on his knees. An entire family knelt and bowed their heads to the ground.

Ministers, civil servants, foreign dignitaries, corporate figures, soldiers, students, office workers, taxi drivers - they came from all over the island for one final opportunity to pay their respects to Singapore's s…