From black ribbons in social media sites to moments of silence in assemblies, the world is mourning for the demise on Monday of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore.

Lee, 91, who was prime minister of Singapore for 31 years, passed away at 3:18 a.m. on Monday after weeks of confinement at the Singapore General Hospital for pneumonia.

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With his death, Singapore - which he transformed from a trading post to a first world nation - holds seven days of national mourning beginning Monday. The state funeral for Singapore's founding father is scheduled on March 29.

Despite criticisms about his iron hand, the bigger legacy of Lee is what many people and nations remember, such as his focus on a clean and efficient governance, economic policies that are business-friendly and a social order that brought substantial investment from the world's largest companies to the tiny city-state, according to Wall Street Journal.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch aptly summarized the PM's achievements as well as his shortcomings. He said, "Lee Kuan Yew's tremendous role in Singapore's economic development is beyond doubt, but it also came at a significant cost for human rights."

In 1986, Lee said that it was necessary for Singapore to clamp down on his opponents since it was required by national security. "We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don't do that, the country would be in ruins," quotes Reuters.

Robertson adds, "Today's restricted freedom of expression, self-censorship and stunted multiparty democracy is also a part of his legacy that Singapore now needs to overcome."

And with his son now leading Singapore, all signs indicate that Lee Kuan Yew's iron hand has been passed on to his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who became PM in 2004.

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