Two political leaders who have had personal impacts on my life passed away in the last week or so. Former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser and Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew . Malcom Fraser was instrumental to the Australian Government's policy shift in the mid-late 70's which embraced and welcomed Vietnamese refugees to Australia. This move was the first significant step towards multiculturalism following the dismantling of the White Australia Policy . When he came to power in 1975, less than 400 Vietnamese lived in Australia. By the end of his term, tens of thousands of Vietnamese would be recognised as refugees. My parents and sister were three of those people. Upon hearing the news of his passing and then seeing the coverage of his funeral, I surprised myself at how emotional I felt for this man I had never met. He was a man of true compassion and strength whose support for human rights was unwavering ...