Lee Kuan

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Lee Kuan was a noted Human historical political despot on Earth sometime between the mid-20th and the 23rd century, who ultimately failed at his goals of conquest and absolute power.

Spock put him in one line with Ramses, Julius Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon and Hitler to show that Earth history is full of men seeking absolute power. (TOS: "Patterns of Force")

Fleet Captain Garth of Izar boasted to Captain James T. Kirk that as Master of the Universe, he would go much farther and have more success then other previous despots such as Lee Kuan, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoléon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, and Krotus. (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy")

Lee Kuan is apparently a reference to Lee Kuan Yew, who in the 1960s was well-known as the Prime Minister of the newly independent Singapore. Lee established a hybrid form of governance with democratic and authoritarian elements. It is well-known, certainly in California, that Chinese naming practice places the surname before the given name; however the writers may possibly have misdivided this one, taking the first two syllables (Lee Kuan) to be the surname and the third (Yew) to be the given name which could be dropped - as they had just done with Hitler's given name (Adolf).