Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on how Mr Nathan overcame suspicion in the newsroom when he became executive chairman of The Straits Times Press.

"After Mr Nathan retired from Government in 1982, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew asked him to be the executive chairman of The Straits Times Press. This was new and uncharted territory for him.

Eyed suspiciously as a former government man, he was hardly welcomed with open arms by the journalists.

But his sincerity won them over. He spent six years there. In his gentle but effective manner, he helped the journalists understand our unique context as a young nation, and gave them the support and the space to run a high-quality, successful newspaper. "