Remembering Lee, the candid leader

Catching up: Lee and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad chatting at the latter’s office in Putrajaya in April 2005 during his visit to Malaysia. — EPA

Despite having a reputation for being intimidating and intellectually arrogant, Singapore’s late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was a man who had the intertwined interests of both his country and Malaysia close at heart.

IT was Lee Kuan Yew’s first visit to Malaysia in 10 years. He wanted to see, as part of his official itinerary, the North-South Expressway, Putrajaya and the Petronas Twin Towers. And to listen to Malaysians.