Several netizens responding to Lee Wei Ling’s latest Facebook post have expressed their desire to see her younger brother, Lee Hsien Yang, as Singapore’s Prime Minister. Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang are founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s younger children. The late Lee Kuan Yew’s eldest son is current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
A feud between the three siblings spilled into the public domain in 2017, when Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang accused their elder brother of abusing his power as head of government to preserve their family home, against their father’s willed desire to demolish the house, in order to bolster his grip on power.
Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang also alleged that Lee Hsien Loong used state organs against him and that he was moulding his son, Li Hongyi, to enter politics. The siblings also said that the Government convened a secret committee to make a decision on the house.
Yesterday evening, Lee Wei Ling alleged on social media that her elder brother had led her father to believe that their family home “had been “gazetted” by the government.”
She further alleged that this was the basis for Lee Hsien Loong to allegedly insist “that Papa should change his will to give Oxley Road to Loong alone” and that since the home had been supposedly gazetted it would be “futile to keep Papa’s direction to demolish Oxley in his will.”
Revealing that her father wrote to his lawyer that the house is still his even though it has been gazetted as a heritage house and that he could will her the right to continue staying in the house, Lee Wei Ling wrote that her father began to doubt the allegation that the house had been gazetted and even spoke about “degazetting” the home.
Asserting that her father “was concerned that the government would reverse course after his death so as to benefit Loong,” Lee Wei Ling added: “Contrary to what Loong has alleged, Pa knew full well the contents of his prior will when he signed his Dec 2013 will.”
Recently, Lee Kuan Yew’s lawyer Kwa Kim Li denied preparing his last will. Disputing this allegation, Lee Wei Ling wrote that there are several emails between her father and the lawyer proving their correspondence over the will. She added:
“Papa had come to a view that the government would reverse course on the “gazetting” of 38 Oxley Road after his death benefitting Loong as a result. This was what I believe led Pa to decide to revert to reinstate the provision to demolish the house, which had always been his unwavering wish, and also to grant me the right to live in the house as long as I wished.”
One netizen, Facebook user John Samuel, responding to Lee’s latest post has wondered what the greater purpose of these revelations are as he urged Lee Hsien Yang to follow in his father’s footsteps. His comment has received over 100 reactions on Facebook so far.
John Samuel wrote that it “cannot just be that the Lee family is washing its dirty linen in public,” and asserted that he feels “something else [is] afoot.”
Asserting that the family home is possibly representative of something much more substantial, John Samuel said that it could be that this is just a family feud but that many Singaporeans hope that there is more to it – “a greater purpose” that “concerns all Singaporeans”.
Opining that “so much has gone wrong with how we are governed” and that the current Government “is a terrible steward of the legacy left behind by the first generation of Singapore’s leaders,” John Samuel said it would be fitting if Lee Hsien Yang would honour his father and join the political arena against the ruling party.
John Samuel wrote: “Am I alone in thinking that Mr. Lee Hsien Yang would be a much much better prime minister than his brother? It’s my feeling that many people think like this too, not just me. Step up to the plate, Mr. Lee. Bat some home runs for us. A whole nation is counting on you. It’s worth it.”
John Samuel is one of many Singaporean urging Lee Hsien Yang to join the opposition. In 2017, PM Lee addressed the allegations leveled against him by his siblings in Parliament, where he declared that he has been cleared of all charges. He added that he will not sue his siblings for defamation since that would “besmirch” the names of their parents.
Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang reinforced their allegations, following this, but offered a ceasefire on releasing further evidence in favour of settling the matter in private, on the condition that they nor their father’s will be attacked or misrepresented.
But that was not all.
Lee Hsien Yang’s eldest son, Li Shengwu earned the ire of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) after posting a private “friends-only” Facebook post, criticising Singapore’s government and judiciary and the AGC commenced legal action against him. A contempt of court lawsuit is ongoing against Shengwu.
One and a half years later, the AGC filed a 500-page complaint against Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Lee Suet Fern. The AGC alleged that Lee Suet Fern would be liable for professional misconduct if she had a hand in preparing Lee Kuan Yew’s will, since her husband is a beneficiary of the will.
Both Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang have vehemently denied any claim that Lee Suet Fern played a part in preparing Lee Kuan Yew’s will. Lee Wei Ling has also released email correspondence between her father and Kwa Kim Li, seemingly proving that the lawyer prepared her father’s last will.
At each turn of the gripping saga, netizens have urged Lee Hsien Yang to join the opposition forces and defeat his brother’s party at the polls. Lee’s friendship with opposition leader Tan Cheng Bock has also led many Singaporeans to speculate that there is a chance he might heed these calls.-/TISG
https://theindependent.sg.sg/calls-for-lee-hsien-yang-to-join-forces-with-tan-cheng-bock-continue-to-resound/
https://theindependent.sg.sg/we-are-counting-on-you-singaporeans-urge-lee-hsien-yang-to-be-a-part-of-the-change-and-contest-next-ge/
https://theindependent.sg.sg/hundreds-of-singaporeans-urge-lee-hsien-yang-to-join-the-opposition-and-defeat-the-pap/
https://theindependent.sg.sg/singaporeans-urge-lee-hsien-yang-to-rescue-his-son-by-contesting-the-next-ge-with-the-opposition/
https://theindependent.sg.sg/calls-for-li-shengwu-to-return-and-fight-for-singapore-resound-as-lee-hsien-yang-shares-an-old-picture-of-baby-shengwu-with-lky/