| Agence
France Presse October 28, 2003 Singapore THE wife of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew has suffered a stroke in London and is being treated at a hospital there, his office said here Tuesday, Oct 28. "Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew suffered a stroke on 26th 0ctober 2003 and is currently receiving treatment in a London hospital. Her condition is stable and improving," a statement from Lee's office said. Lee married Kwa Geok Choo, a Cambridge educated lawyer, in 1947 and she has been credited with having been a strong and loyal influence in his political career. The 80-year-old Lee, Singapore's former prime minister and current senior minister, and his wife, left for a trip to Europe two weeks ago. From October 14 to 18, they were in Berlin where Lee attended a JP Morgan International Council Meeting. Lee later visited France to attend the executive committee meeting of French energy giant TotalFinaElf and met French President Jacques Chirac. They arrived Saturday in London where Lee met Prime Minister Tony Blair and gave a talk at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Lee is credited with hauling Singapore from an economic backwater at its independence in 1965 to one of Asia's wealthiest nations. He stepped down in 1990 and has since held the influential post of senior minister in the cabinet of his successor, former shipping executive Goh Chok Tong. Considered one of Southeast Asia's most influential elder statesmen, Lee's views have been sought by Western leaders as well as top corporations. In the preface of the first volume of his memoirs, The Singapore Story,
Lee described his wife as "a tower of strength, giving me constant
emotional and intellectual support". He dedicated the book to her.
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