Lawyer Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss: “Cannot be” that Lee Kuan Yew didn’t read the demolition clause in his last will

SINGAPORE: Noted lawyer Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss said today (3 March) that it is hard to believe founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew did not read or understand the contents of his last will, amid the latest turn in the Lee family feud.

Her comments come on the back of Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean’s revelation that Lee Hsien Yang and his wife Lee Suet Fern – the youngest son and daughter-in-law of the late Lee Kuan Yew – are being investigated by the police for allegedly lying in a legal proceeding relating to the will of the late former PM.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has responded by dubbing this latest action continued “persecution” by the Singapore authorities. The estranged brother of current Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong has also asserted that he is the “real target” behind the authorities’ actions against his wife and son, Li Shengwu.

The bitter dispute has gripped Singaporeans and dominated national discourse for over five years. This latest development has also triggered public scrutiny of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will – the main point of contention between the Lee siblings.

Ms Chong-Aruldoss is among several public figures who have weighed in on the issue. Posting a picture of the demolition clause in Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will with his handwriting next to it, she noted that it is “hard not to notice” the visibly conspicuous clause, which takes up 12 lines in the document.

Ms Chong-Aruldoss also noted that the lawyers who witnessed Mr Lee’s last will had said that “LKY read through every line of the will and was comfortable to sign and initial at every page, which he did in our presence. We then confirmed that we witnessed LKY’s signature by placing our own signatures at the relevant execution blocks respectively.”

Pointing out that the application for Probate was granted without challenge, despite being based on the last will, Ms Chong-Aruldoss said: “I hope no one saying that Mr Lee initialled this page where the clause appears without reading or understanding what was written on that page. That cannot be.”

Lee Hsien Yang protests “continued persecution” amid police probe related to Lee Kuan Yew’s will