Dr Lee Wei Ling revealed this evening that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) have filed a 500-page long complaint against her younger brother Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Suet Fern, for preparing her father, Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s will.
She added that Singapore’s current Attorney-General Lucien Wong – who is her elder brother and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s former personal lawyer – has recused himself from the case even though the new complaint lodged by the AGC “repeats allegations that were made years ago by Hsien Loong through his personal lawyer.”
Dr Lee, the middle child and only daughter of Lee Kuan Yew who cared for him in his last years, added: “As far as we know, this is an unprecedented use of such legal process involving a private will.”
In mid-2017, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang accused their elder brother of abusing his power to preserve their family home against their father’s willed desire to demolish the house and of using state organs against them.
PM Lee addressed the allegations against him in a Parliamentary debate where he declared that he has been cleared of all charges. Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang reinforced their allegations, following this, but offered a ceasefire on releasing further evidence in favor of settling the matter in private, on the condition that they nor their father’s will be attacked or misrepresented.
About one and a half years later, Dr Lee has revealed that the authorities are still after members of her family over her late father’s will. She asserted, “Hsien Loong has been unhappy with our father’s will and our father’s wish to demolish his home at 38 Oxley Road.”
Revealing that their father “informed all his children and his lawyer at Lee & Lee when he completed his final will and codicil 5 years ago,” Dr Lee said that the estate secured probate for the will the year their father died “on Hsien Loong’s urging”.
She said that although “all parties including Hsien Loong accepted the will as representing Lee Kuan Yew’s true wishes” at the time in 2015, “Hsien Loong sought to attack the will through a committee of his ministers” after the probate in 2016 and 2017.
Dr Lee further noted that their father, a lawyer himself, had never raised any complaints about his will and that even Lee Hsien Loong did not make a complaint against Suet Fern to the Law Society until now.
Asking why the AGC is initiating this complaint now after all this time, Dr Lee asserted that she feels that the latest action by the authorities is “wholly without merit”:
“Lee Kuan Yew, a highly regarded lawyer, never complained about his will. No beneficiary has complained to the Law Society, not even Hsien Loong who was advised by Lucien Wong (previously his personal lawyer, now AG). Why therefore this new attack on our father’s will? Why is this being initiated now, and by the AGC, after all this time? Our view is that this action is wholly without merit.”
She concluded her message by highlighting the legal action the AGC has taken against her nephew, Li Shengwu – the son of Lee Hsien Yang and Suet Fern – for a private “friends-only” Facebook post he published when the family fued was ongoing in 2017:
“The AGC has also been relentless this past one and a half years pursuing a prosecution of Li Shengwu for a private Facebook post. At the same time, the AGC has not prosecuted any party who shared or published his private post.”
Read Dr Lee’s post in full here:
The Attorney-General's Chambers has recently lodged over 500 pages of complaint to the Law Society against Hsien Yang’s…
Posted by Lee Wei Ling on Sunday, 6 January 2019
In case you cannot read the above:
“The Attorney-General’s Chambers has recently lodged over 500 pages of complaint to the Law Society against Hsien Yang’s wife over the preparation our father’s will. They claim that the AG, Lucien Wong, Hsien Loong’s former personal lawyer, has recused himself. The AGC’s complaint repeats allegations that were made years ago by Hsien Loong through his personal lawyer. As far as we know, this is an unprecedented use of such legal process involving a private will.
“Hsien Loong has been unhappy with our father’s will and our father’s wish to demolish his home at 38 Oxley Road. Lee Kuan Yew informed all his children and his lawyer at Lee & Lee when he completed his final will and codicil 5 years ago. In 2015, on Hsien Loong’s urging, the estate secured probate for the will. At the time, all parties including Hsien Loong accepted the will as representing Lee Kuan Yew’s true wishes. After probate, in 2016 and 2017, Hsien Loong sought to attack the will through a committee of his ministers.
“Lee Kuan Yew, a highly regarded lawyer, never complained about his will. No beneficiary has complained to the Law Society, not even Hsien Loong who was advised by Lucien Wong (previously his personal lawyer, now AG). Why therefore this new attack on our father’s will? Why is this being initiated now, and by the AGC, after all this time? Our view is that this action is wholly without merit.
“The AGC has also been relentless this past one and a half years pursuing a prosecution of Li Shengwu for a private Facebook post. At the same time, the AGC has not prosecuted any party who shared or published his private post.”