The medium that apparently nobody watches anymore has made a lasting impact on Singapore's political landscape and the republic as a whole.

Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev was quoted in a Reuters article on Mar. 6, 2015 that the former Prime Minister quit because he didn't like what he saw on TV.

The 74-year-old President said:

"The founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew ... once stepped down, and I asked him why. And the answer was: 'I had ruled for 31 years, and when I watched myself on television, I did not like myself'."

"And I said that television distorts things and that well, maybe it's not worth watching TV, but I have a similar plan."

A bit of information on Nazarbayev. He has run Kazakhstan since 1989 and was described by Daily Mail as a dictator whose enemies have often met a grisly end.

And he's also a big fan of Lee. In his book 'The Kazakhstan Way", he referred to Lee Kuan Yew and former French president Charles de Gaulle as the two “eminent founding statesmen”. In fact, The Financial Times likened the both of them, saying that "both have been criticised for authoritarian rule and crushing voices of dissent."

The same article also noted that he might follow Lee's example of stepping down but keeping the Central Asian nation under his control.

He was probably referring to Lee's tenure as Senior Minister and Minister Mentor.

Interestingly, Lee wrote in his book (The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew) on the effect of television:

“Amazingly, throughout most of the contemporary Western world leaders in government require no special training or qualification. Many get elected because they sound and look good on television. The results have been unhappy for their voters.”

But hand on heart, we think he looked really good on TV.

And social media just make him more legendary.

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