What to make of Singapore's first and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died Monday morning in the city-state? Under the banner of the People's Action Party, Lee held government power for three decades. After stepping away from the prime minister's office in 1990, he held positions of senior minister and later "minister mentor" until 2004, when his son, Lee Hsien Loong, became prime minister. Under their rule (and the interregnum of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong-not a Lee family member, but hand-picked for the role, with the elder Lee looming over his shoulder for 14 years), Singapore emerged from Southeast Asia's post-Second World War tumult as its most successful economy, a combination of authoritarian government, democratic trappings, and free markets that some predict will be the next century's model for growth and stability. And Singapore's media policies are being replicated across much of Southeast Asia.
Singapore enjoys a reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. But without aggressive media coverage, who is watching over the government, other than the government?
As the global plaudits roll in, it is important to remember the relentless string of lawsuits against foreign and domestic media that dared to insinuate any nepotism or misconduct during the Lee family's rule.
Over the years, he and his family sued and won damages in Singapore courts, or notched rich out-of-court settlements, against the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Bloomberg news service and the Economist magazine. Nor has the government been beyond refusing visas to foreign journalists it does not like Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).-PR
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