Lee Kuan Yew's forte was an open-minded focus on results

I have Singaporean relatives by marriage, and last week was a time of mourning for them. The death of their former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was almost like the passing of a close family member. One cut a business trip short on hearing the news in order to go back home to pay respects.

I met Lee at lunches and dinners on several occasions starting from 1999. He was no longer Singapore's leader but still very involved. He displayed a highly impressive global perspective, and was very interested in how Hong Kong was doing.

To many Singaporeans and other admirers, Lee made Singapore what it is today - not simply in terms of infrastructure and economic development, but as a proud multiracial nation with a distinct identity and role in regional affairs. To critics, he was intolerant, ruled through fear and left a community with a lot of rules but not much flair or creativity.

There is a danger that both these views go too far. Lee was not a god. He could not have transformed Singapore single-handed; it took administrative and technical know-how, and ultimately the effort of the whole population. Maybe other leaders could have done a similar job using different methods. Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea all pulled themselves up from a low level during the 1960s through to 1980s.

Similarly, it is a huge exaggeration to say he was simply a tyrant or dictator. All four of Asia's "little dragons" had authoritarian government of some sort, at least up to the 1980s.

Few people can really oppose rules to eliminate spitting or even the mess caused by chewing gum. The main serious charge is that Lee silenced critics harshly. The persecution may have seemed unnecessary and personal. He himself later stressed that the number of critics jailed or sued was quite small - which suggests that he was sensitive to allegations of intolerance.