Lee returns to old lion's den

Lee returns to old lion's den

MALAYSIA: Modern Singapore's founding father will put his seal on warmer relations with neighbor Malaysia this week when he makes his first visit to the Malaysian capital since 2001, when ties were badly frayed.

Lee Kuan Yew, who turned his tiny state into an economic force after it split from Malaysia in 1965, is a controversial figure among Malaysia's ethnic Malay majority, which feared at the time his mainly ethnic Chinese political party might dominate.

Lee, 81, traveling to Kuala Lumpur to speak at an anticorruption conference, is due to pay a courtesy call on Tuesday on Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose ascent to power 18 months ago marked a watershed in relations.

"This has nothing to do with bilateral matters," a Singapore Embassy official said, explaining that Lee, now the country's third-ranking minister as "minister mentor", was visiting merely to gauge the new mood in Malaysia, not hold official talks. -- Reuters