In his condolence letter, Mr Lee said Venerable Long, who died on Wednesday, was well-respected and had many followers.

Mr Lee said, for a decade from 1994, Venerable Long was re-elected Chairman of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, helping the community and making many contributions to Buddhism here.

Together with a group of monks from China who had settled down here, Venerable Long worked to promote charitable and education works, and supported the government's efforts to maintain religious harmony.

Venerable Long was born in Jiangsu, China and became a monk at the age of 10.

He had travelled to Shanghai, Wuchang, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and many other places, before coming to Singapore in the 1960s to promote Buddhism in Singapore.