Mythical figure, tough leader, ultimate visionary: tributes flow in for Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew not only led Singapore into independence but spent his entire career helping to forge the country's emerging sense of identity
Those observing the delegation Lee Kuan Yew led on his first official visit to China in 1976 would have noticed the presence of interpreters, even though both sides appeared to be ethnic Chinese.
Yet if they looked closely at the Singapore team, they would have spied two non-Chinese: an Indian foreign minister and a Malay junior office-holder.
The linguistic and line-up choices were deliberate calculations of Lee, a long-standing policy to show the Chinese that while there may be ties of kinship, Singapore is not an outpost of China. It is a sovereign state, multiracial and existing in Southeast Asia.
This was a lifelong concern of Lee, who died yesterday after a long and extraordinary career as Singapore's founding prime minister and later a mentor in cabinet and a respected world leader.
Behind that lifelong concern were two non-negotiables. First, that Singapore, despite its small size, stand up to other countries as an independent country. Second, that Singapore, despite its many races, fostered unity.
Lee was not afraid to stand up to the big powers, certain that any sign of weakness could invite trouble.
And so it was that Lee made common cause with small nations but also made powerful friends, navigating the diplomatic terrain with a potent combination of charm and candour and, when the occasion merited it, combativeness.