“But if the power that be wants to establish a dynasty, LKY’s daughter will not allow LKY’s name to be sullied by a dishonorable son.”
These were the words of Dr Lee Wei Ling, the daughter of Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and she had said them in an email to a local newspaper.
Her brother and the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, was quick to denounce Dr Lee’s accusations. He said her allegations were “completely untrue”.
When an international publication, the Wall Street Journal, called Dr Lee to get her side of the story for their article yesterday (11 Apr), she would only tell them that the dispute “is a Singaporean matter” and that she “always try to stick by the truth”.
Dr Lee’s comments have caused some to speculate that the the doctor is so upset because the “powers that be” want to bring in a 3rd generation Lee, into politics.
Prominent blogger Andrew Loh writing on the topic in his Facebook said that his best “guess would be Lee Hongyi, eldest son from Lee Hsien Loong and Ho Ching,” and that “Lee Wei Ling, for some reason, is adamantly against establishing what she sees as a “political dynasty” here.”
In 2007, the 3G Lee was reprimanded by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for not following proper procedures in e-mailing a letter of complaint to many other servicemen. He alleged that another officer from his unit, had been absent without leave or AWOL on two occasions and sidestepped the usual chain of command to file a lengthy complaint in an email sent to senior military officers and then-Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean (read this: http://bit.ly/1XsZsPn).
PM Lee in an interview in 2014 said that his children were not interested to enter politics “at the moment”.
A local online website however drummed up the credentials of the 29-year-old by comparing him with the popular American president John F Kennedy. He “had PM Lee’s soulful deep voice”, said the website which’s managing editor is the former online communications manager in the Prime Minister’s Office. The website had compared the eulogy given at the elder Lee’s passing and rated the junior Lee’s as being the best of the lot.
“It seems this may be what Lee Kuan Yew himself may be against. Thus LWL’s (Lee Wei Ling’s) allusion or accusation of her brother as “a dishonourable son”,” said Mr Loh.
“The other interesting question is whether there are other ministers or PAP MPs and cadres who are also against this alleged building of a “dynasty”,” he added.
PM Lee in his Facebook note refuting his sister has however dismissed all talks of dynastic politics. He said:
“The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP, nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt.”
Children of former Ministers (like former Labour Minister Lee Yock Suan’s son Desmond Lee) are now in ministerial positions in the Government of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong entirely through meritocracy.