The death of self-confessed communist Devan Nair, who fought the British, founded Malaysia's biggest opposition party and became Singapore's third president, only to resign accused of drunkenness, has gone unnoticed in the local media.
Nair died last Tuesday in Canada at the age of 82, but not a single Malaysian newspaper reported the news of a man whose name had been synonymous with political agitation in the 1950s and 60s.
The son of an immigrant Indian clerk, Nair founded trade unions, imbued them in communism and led them to overthrow British rule. 'Devan Nair was a warrior for democracy, a defender of justice, a fighter for freedom, a voice for the weak and a tireless member for the labour movement,' said Lim Guan Eng, of the Democratic Action Party, which Nair founded in 1965.
Nair, however, is best remembered for his dramatic fallout with Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew as both struggled to win independence and later achieve national survival after Malaysia sacked Singapore from the federation in 1965.
'He was my general and I was his most loyal lieutenant,' Nair said in 1991. Mr Lee made Nair president in 1981 but four years later accused him of drunkenness.
Nair resigned and disappeared, later speaking out from Canada, from where he denied being a drunk. He traded insults and accusations with Mr Lee and the two remained implacable enemies.
Last week, however, Singapore's official media was full of praise.