Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore and the political architect of that incredible city-state has died.
I lived in Singapore from '64 to '67, a tricky time for Lee because not only did he have problems with the proto-communist Barisan Socialis who were immensely popular amongst the Chinese-speaking (ie, the poor!) part of the population but also he was engineering the break-away from the Muslim-led confederation with Malaysia. In addition, there were potentially severe racial tensions on the island of Singapore between the mixed population of Chinese, Malays and Tamils.
Happily, Lee had a superb intellect allied to an iron will. He tended to use brain rather than brawn although as a (London) trained lawyer he was prepared to use the law to its fullest extent. Also, he never failed to offer himself and his government to the people for endorsement - or otherwise - at regular general elections. There are only a tiny number of political leaders post-WWII who can truly be described as 'Great Men' but Lee Kuan Yew was one of them and the modern City-State of Singapore is his memorial.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11437131/Lee-Kuan-Yew-Asian-statesman-obituary.html
