PM Lee Hsien Loong quotes Beatles song as he marks 64th birthday during US trip

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spent his 64th birthday on a work trip to the US. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has thanked Singaporeans for their birthday wishes after turning 64 on Wednesday (Feb 10) while on a week-long visit to the United States.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr Lee wrote: "There is a Beatles song When I'm Sixty-Four, and now I have got there!"

Written by former Beatle Paul McCartney and released in 1967, the song is about a young man who serenades his lover about growing old together with her.

Mr Lee also shared a photo of the iconic cable car - the world's last manually operated system - in San Francisco, where he will meet California governor Jerry Brown and several top names in the technology industry.

Besides rubbing shoulders with the likes of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook, Mr Lee, who is accompanied on the trip by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, will also meet Singaporeans living in the area and host a roundtable discussion with Singaporean tech professionals.

"Seeing interesting companies and people over the next few days. Will update as I go," Mr Lee added in his Facebook post.

After his meetings in San Francisco, Mr Lee will head to the Sunnylands estate on Feb 15 for a special US-Asean summit hosted by US President Barack Obama.

The summit is expected to see Asean leaders discuss Asean-US economic and political security cooperation, as well as regional and international issues.

On early Friday morning, Dr Vivian shared a photo of Mr Lee carrying his birthday cake during a celebration in US.

Last week, members of Singapore's Cabinet threw an early birthday celebration for Mr Lee ahead of his US trip.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean is Acting Prime Minister during Mr Lee's absence from Feb 10 to 18.

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