Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday expressed condolences over the recent death of former Taiwan Premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and lauded Hau's contributions to Taiwan's development.

"Mr. Hau lived a long and full life," Lee wrote in a Facebook post. "He will be remembered as a dear friend of Singapore. Our thoughts are with the people of Taiwan at this moment of loss."

Lee also paid tribute to Hau's achievements during his service as Taiwan's premier from 1990-1993.

"Mr. Hau was a deeply respected leader, who made many contributions to the security and wellbeing of Taiwan and to cross-strait relations, as well as to our bilateral ties," Lee wrote.

Hau, who died Monday at the age of 100, was well known to the Singapore prime minister, and their last meeting was three years ago when Hau and some of his friends visited Singapore on a golfing trip, according to Lee's Facebook post.

Reminiscing on his first meeting with Hau, the prime minister said it was in 1974 when he was a young officer in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Hau passed away Monday at the Tri-Service General Hospital due to multiple organ failure, according to a statement released later in the day by the office of his son, former Taipei Mayor and former Kuomintang Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin.

Hau Pei-tsun was born in August 1919 in China's Jiangsu Province and served as chief of the general staff of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Armed Forces from 1981 to 1989, the longest tenure in that post in Taiwan's history.

In 1989, he retired from that post and took up the job of defense minister, serving until 1990, when he became premier in the then Kuomintang (KMT) administration.