The Minister Mentor was at the event accompanied by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

The Chinese government had assigned Mr Yang to accompany Mr Lee, as well as former United States president George H.W. Bush - a significant gesture to demonstrate that the Chinese government treasured its relationship with the former leaders of Singapore and the United States.

Mr Lee, who also met Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping during his three-day stay in Beijing, was back in Singapore on Saturday to attend the National Day Parade.

Speaking to reporters after the parade, he noted how the drummers in the opening segment in Beijing were in complete unison.

'They had absolute possession of the sticks, which I think must have impressed everybody there and around the world,' he said.

'Three billion people must have seen the effort that they made and the discipline that they showed, and the taiji and all the rest of it.

'But you must remember, they are choosing from 1,300 million people. As I told the Foreign Minister who was sitting next to me: When you chose one astronaut, you started with 1,500.'

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.