Enlightened authoritarians are rare, but Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew was one of them, most of the time.
Lee, who died Monday at the age of 91, embraced private enterprise in the 1960s when most of develpoing world favored public ownership.
The city-state's spectacular growth in the 1970s inspired Asia's reformers, notably Deng Xiaoping.
Lee's legacy also includes belief in a strong alliance with the U.S., from thwarting communists in Southeast Asia to balancing China today.
Singapore offered material and moral support to the U.S. fight against North Vietnam, and in his memoirs Lee credited America with making an economic boom in Asia possible: "Had there been no U.S. intervention, the will of these countries to resist them would have most have most likely gone communist".
Lee understood ruthless communist tactics because his Peolple's Action Party formed a united front with communist-controlled trade unions in the 1950s to press for independence from Britain.
His erstwhile partners infiltrated the PAP and almost took control in 1957.
To defeat the communists Lee abandoned liberal democracy for bare-knuck-led politics.
As a young lawyer he had defended trade unions, but as a politician he crushed union independence.
Once in power after 1959, he imprisoned communist leaders for decades without trial.
Lee boasted of his ability to destroy opponents: "Everybody knows that in my bag I have a hatchet, and a very sharp one. You take me one, I take my hatchet, we meet in the cul-de-sac."
Unlike most Third World leaders, Lee enforced a meritocratic and relatively uncorrupt society.
But after Singapore’s economy soared and the appeal of communism waned, Lee’s vigilance sometime turned into paranoia.
In 1987 Singapore police rounded up 16 hapless social activists who were forced into making false televised confessions of a communist plot.
Lee refused to allow Western media coverage of local politics, harassing this newspaper and other publications, and restricting circulation.
Like many strongmen, he didn’t trust his people to decide for themselves. (See Melanie Kirkpatrick nearby)
In 1990 he passed leadership to Goh Chok Tong and then his son Lee Hsien Loong, but he remained in the cabinet.
Over the past decade, some Singaporeans have taken advantage of the Internet to criticize the ruling party more openly, and talented figures have joined the opposition.
In the 2011 general election the PAP’s popular-vote share fell to 60%, the lowest since independence.
The poor showing was partly due to Lee’s campaign threats that areas voting for the opposition would lose public funds.
While the tactic had worked in the past, this time it alienated voters fed up with PAP bullying, and Lee resigned from the cabinet.
Lee remains a figure of respect for most Singaporeans for historic contributions, but his death will free them to demand political freedom.
Some speculate that either Lee Hsien Loong will try to lead political reform, or others within the PAP will challenge him.
If Singapore can peacefully transition to true self-government, Lee Kuan Yew will deserve some credit for the economic liberty and prosperity that allowed it to set roots.