Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam joined some 100 world leaders at the FNB Stadiumin in Jonannesburg today to pay his respects to the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

Mr Mandela, 95, died last Thursday after suffering from a lung infection.

"The ceremony was meaningful and the mood uplifting despite the continuous rain over several hours," said Mr Tharman, who is also Minister for Finance.

"It was befitting of Nelson Mandela, whose remarkable life has touched so many people from all over the world."

Mr Tharman will be flying back to Singapore tomorrow after paying his last respects at the Union Building in Pretoria, where Mr Mandela's body will lie in state, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.