Singapore — Noted senior lawyer Lee Suet Fern has been flexing her considerable creative skills, making handbags, bow ties, and even dresses lately. Some of her handiwork, it seems, carries a rather pointed message.
On Wednesday (Feb 9), lawyer and opposition leader Lim Tean featured some new handcrafted gifts from Ms Lee in a Facebook post.
However, he prefaced his post by writing that the lawyer, who is the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother, Lee Hsien Yang, had given him a face mask that had the words “Free Rider” last year.
“That had been in stitches and I wore it a lot!,” Mr Lim added.
In September 2020, after an unprecedented loss of a second GRC in the General Election, PM Lee ruffled more than a few feathers when he referred to Singaporeans who voted for the opposition while expecting the People’s Action Party (PAP) to remain in power as “free riders”.
“But if you say, vote for me, somebody else will vote for the PAP, and therefore the PAP will be the Government, that, the economists will call a free rider. It means that you’re taking advantage of somebody else who’s doing their duty of electing a government for the nation,” Mr Lee said.
Many people took issue with the Prime Minister’s statement, including Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and Mr Lim himself.
Ms Lee was suspended from practising law in November 2020 for 15 months by the Court of Three Judges after she was found guilty of misconduct over her handling of the last will of her late father-in-law Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.
She issued a statement after the announcement of her suspension, saying, “I disagree with this decision. There was no basis for this case to have even been initiated.”
And while Mr Lim did not post a photo of the “free rider” mask from Ms Lee, he posted photos of some new gifts from her, calling himself a “once again the lucky recipient of fabulous gifts from her,” adding that this time she had given him “lovely napkins, tea-towels and even an exquisite lavender sachet bag.”
“The detail Suet Fern condescends to in putting together her creations are mind-boggling. Every item has a printed explanation and story to it,” he added.
“I think Suet Fern will be a wonderful ambassador to promote Creativity in our Nation, which is a quality we desperately need much more of if Singapore is to remain at the forefront of the New World Order.”
He thanked Ms Lee and said that it had been “lovely” to see her and her husband again. /TISG
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