It was the fall of 2005, and Lee Kuan Yew had been engaged in a nearly five-hour interview with Time over two days. The conversation turned to faith as a source of strength in the face of adversity. “I would not score very highly on religious value,” said Lee, then 82, still in good health, and a sort of Minister Emeritus. Yet when he talked about the illnesses and deaths of loved ones, Lee allowed himself a rare moment of vulnerability: his eyes welled up.