From Russia With Love

According to Wikipedia, the Order of Honour (Russian: Орден Почёта) is a state order of the Russian Federation established by Presidential Decree No. 442 of March 2, 1994 to recognise high achievements in government, economic, scientific, sociocultural, public, sport and charitable activities. Its statute was amended by decree No. 19 of January 6, 1999 and more lately by decree No. 1099 of January 7, 2010 which defined its present status.

Notable recipients of the Russian Order of Honour include:
Mikhail Gorbachev - first elected President of the USSR
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov - Russia's Foreign Minister
Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov - Former Prime Minister of Russia
Pavel Romanovich Popovich - Cosmonaut
Juan Antonio Samaranch - Seventh President of the IOC
Vitaly Gennadyevich Savelyev - CEO of Aeroflot
Anatoly Yuryevich Ravikovich - Actor
Andrey Tokarev - Paralympic medalist
Valery Yakovlevich Leontiyev - Pop singer
Vladimir Putin - 4th (Current) President of Russia
Anatoliy Aleksandrov - Rector of Bauman State Technical University

Since Lee Kuan Yew is not a Russian citizen - not that we know of anyway - how did he qualify for the Russian Order of Honour? The medallion was presented by Mr Leonid Moiseev, Russia's Ambassador to Singapore, to Lee on Monday 6th January 2013 2014 at the Istana, although Mr Putin supposedly conferred the award months ago on 10 September 2013, date of his 90th birthday. The only clue to the mystery is what he said in parliament way back in May 1996, "My being me helped me get, if you like, the inside track and special treatment. ...".  It is open secret that many foreigners who have been issued a Red passport are still holding on to their original ones.

The sharp eyed will notice another non-Russian recipient on the list is Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union and Mongolia in 1977, an appointment which reputedly helped him to gain the support of the Soviet bloc countries in the election to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), held in Moscow in 1980. We can't ask him if he held dual passports either, he died in April 2010.

The Little Red Book from Putin, not Mao