While the Law Society (LawSoc) on Thursday (Aug 13) moved to have lawyer Lee Suet Fern struck off the roll for professional misconduct over the handling of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s final will, both her lawyers and netizens pushed that the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew was not coerced in any way.
Mrs Lee’s lawyers, Senior Counsels Kenneth Tan and former Attorney-General Walter Woon, urged the court to dismiss all the charges against her, arguing that Mr Lee Kuan Yew knew what he was doing.
Referring to Lee Kuan Yew as MM or Minister Mentor, Prof Woon said: “(Even if there’s a) technical breach … it still goes back to the question, in that case, is there any meaningful sanction? MM was himself a lawyer. He was a brilliant lawyer. A will is not a complex document. He read it, he understood it.”
“It’s quite clear MM knew what he was doing. There is no reason for imposition of sanctions of any sort under the Legal Profession Act,” said Prof Woon.
Prof Woon said that the inference that Lee Kuan Yew had been tricked was “improbable in the extreme”, saying it was unacceptable for the tribunal to criticise Mrs Lee and her husband’s integrity without clear evidence to support its conclusions.
“He read the will, he signed the will, initialled on every page, called for it the following day, told his personal assistant to send it to (Ms Kwa) and tell her it’s the agreement among the siblings,” said Prof Woon.
“The inescapable inference is that this is exactly what MM wants”, he said.
Similarly, netizens too found it hard to believe that Mr Lee was not able to make his own decisions.
The Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body dealing with lawyers’ misconduct, heard arguments from both sides for five hours on Thursday before reserving judgment. The Court of Three Judges which comprises of Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash and Justice Woo Bih Li will unveil its decision at a later date. /TISG