"Mr Nair made substantial contributions to Singapore," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his condolence letter to Nair's family. The letter was released late Wednesday to journalists after the death of Nair.

"During the formative years of our nation, he served with courage and commitment, and played a significant part in building modern Singapore," Lee said.

Nair, a one-time communist sympathizer and founder of Singapore's National Trade Union Congress, held the largely ceremonial post of president for four years.

He resigned in 1985 amid allegations which he strongly denied that he had a drinking problem.

"He belongs to the generation of founding fathers who made Singapore what it is today. His passing is a loss to us all," Lee said.

Born in Malaya in 1923, Nair began his political career fighting British colonial rule in Singapore during which he got to know the city-state's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, whose son is the current prime minister.

The two became staunch allies but fell out over political differences, according to Nair.

"I supported him because he was an eloquent champion of the dreams I had for Singapore," Nair told a Canadian newspaper in a rare interview after taking up residency there in the mid-1990s.

The elder Lee had told parliament that Nair quit in 1985 to seek treatment for a drinking problem.

Nair's wife Dhanalatchimi died in April from pneumonia. They leave four children.

                                                      Home