File Photo: Former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew waves to the audience during Singapore's 49th National Day Parade at the floating platform in Marina Bay on August 9, 2014. (Reuters)
Singapore's founding leader and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who has been on life support in hospital, "has deteriorated further" and is "critically ill", the government said today.
Lee, 91, widely credited with transforming Singapore from an economic backwater into one of Asia's wealthiest economies, has been in the intensive care unit at Singapore General Hospital since February 5, receiving treatment for severe pneumonia.
"Mr. Lee Kuan Yew remains critically ill in the ICU and has deteriorated further," a statement from the office of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said.
On Tuesday, the government said his condition had worsened due to an infection and that he was on antibiotics while doctors closely monitored his condition.
The senior Lee has been breathing with the help of "mechanical ventilation", a form of life support, according to the government.
Lee modernised Singapore's economy, but rights advocates have criticised the British-trained lawyer for his iron-fisted rule, which has seen political opponents jailed or driven to bankruptcy through costly libel suits.