Lee Kuan Yew, the long-time prime minister of Singapore, died at age 91 in the early hours of Monday morning, the government of Singapore announced.
Lee served as the prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 and continued working for the government through 2011.
He is widely credited as the founding father of Singapore and credited for its rise from a third-world colonial port city to an advanced, wealthy state.
Lee was widely admired by many Western leaders for building a technocratic government capable of creating massive prosperity. But he was also criticized for limiting free speech and using state coercion against political rivals.
Lee entered Singapore General Hospital early in February to be treated for pneumonia.
