Editor's note: Lee Kuan Yew is only on the cover of TIME's Asian edition. The future of Cuba is on the cover of its Europe and US editions. 

Being on the cover of a magazine, even an international publication, is not something Lee Kuan Yew cares about.

But we are talking about Time magazine, one of US's leading news magazines, where an appearance on the cover is an indicator of a person's notability, fame or notoriety.

On April 6. 2015, our founding Prime Minister is TIME's cover model.

And it was the same publication that got its circulation reduced in 1986 from a high of 18,000 copies to a low of 2,000 copies, for it had "engaged in the domestic politics of Singapore."

In 1986, it published an article sympathetic to then Workers' Party secretary general, J.B. Jeyaretnam but refused to publish a full right of reply from Lee's press secretary.

With this historical baggage in mind, how is the current feature on Lee?

On balance, it is pretty fair and objective:

Here are 5 points worth noting about the feature:

1. Analysing Lee's personality: "Lee’s arrogance was partly rooted in his strong intellect and his prodigious ability to look beyond the horizon. Today, chiefly because of the foundations he laid, Singapore, tiny and surrounded by hostile neighbors when it was born, has not only survived but flourished — a widely-admired banking, tech and educational hub whose GDP per capita is among the highest in the world; a place that constantly innovates and experiments; the Little City That Could".

2. Praising Lee's foresight: "And astute, especially when maintaining an equidistance between China and the U.S., East Asia’s top two rivals. Beijing and Washington both trusted him as a friend who enhanced their understanding of each other. Till the end, he remained an admirer of American entrepreneurship and ingenuity"

3. The legacy of PAP's political success: "Whether Lee intended it or not, his template for Singapore became a model for many authoritarian governments that saw its success as an example of how prosperity could be achieved while controlling freedom."

4. The political criticisms: "Demanding respect but wary of flattery, and the memory of his perilous start still fresh, Lee tightened his grip on power and went on the attack against political opponents. One of them, the gadfly lawyer and MP J.B. Jeyaretnam, was repeatedly sued for libel by Lee."

5. The press criticisms: The press also drew Lee’s wrath...Because the foreign press wasn’t subject to local printing laws, newspapers or magazines whose articles were viewed as defamatory were either sued or their Singapore circulation cut. Among the media thus punished was TIME, for nine months during the late 1980s".

Keen to purchase this special TIME magazine? The author bought it from the Kinokuniya bookstore. 

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