Singapore—On Tuesday, April 30, the Prime Minister’s sister Dr Lee Wei Ling took to Facebook to provide email proof concerning the lawyer who had prepared the will of her father, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The said lawyer, Kwa Kim Li of Lee & Lee, “denied involvement in the events that led to this 2013 will,” as Dr Lee wrote.
Lee Suet Fern, the wife of the youngest Lee sibling, Lee Hsien Yang, is facing a disciplinary tribunal called for by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for her alleged role in helping prepare the will of her father-in-law.
Dr Lee has taken to social media to defend her brother and his wife, as well as show what happened in the crafting of Lee Kuan Yew’s will.
She has been outspokenly critical of her older brother, the prime minister, at times calling him her “dishonourable brother Loong” or that he has made “false and dishonourable allegations.”
Many netizens have sprung to the support of the younger Lee siblings, sending good wishes to both, and even asking them to join the opposition and contest in the next election.
In addition to these messages, many netizens are also bringing up the matter of Singapore’s proposed legislation against online falsehoods, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), which was tabled in parliament in April and is expected to be passed this month.
Some, like XiangRen Tan, expressed fear of being slapped with a lawsuit: “I am with you and a lot of Singaporeans are with you even though they might not post on social media because of the control of freedom of speech in Singapore. Everyone is afraid to be sued until their pants drop, because we are not brothers and sisters.”
Others wondered if Dr Lee would still have the freedom to post this way after POFMA is passed. Lance Yeo wrote, “Can you still post all this after the fake new bill has passed?”
He was answered by another netizen, who wrote, “Why not? And your question is only valid if this (information/email) is fake or false. Surely, you are not implying this is, right?”
Mr Yeo reminded him, “hv u not forget that in the bill the minister will decide is this fake new or not?”
Others wondered if Dr Lee’s post would eventually be considered as fake news.
Henryace Ace wrote “I guess once the POFMA law is in place later this year, LHY’s and LWL’s FB’s posts would be taken down under the pretense of ‘fake news'”.
While Kelvin Leong wrote, “With the fake news law in place, the ministers will decide what is true or false. This will become fake news simply because the minister says so, even if it is the truth. Welcome to Orwell’s 1984.”
Soh Poh Hin wondered if the post would be classified as fake news and then taken down.
Andy Wong chimed in, “With POFMA, can ministers deemed/decide that this email is fake news since the new law will dictate ministers to decide on what is fake news.”
Soh Wee-Kian wrote, “Imagine if Fake News Legislation is passed.”
For Andrew Tang, this seemed to be very negative indeed.
One commenter on Dr Lee’s post said that only the people who are spreading lies have anything to fear.
Zulkarnain Hassan wrote, “Ho Ching says only those spreading untruths should fear the fake news laws. Guess that doesn’t apply to you cos you’re telling the truth.”
Netizen Jeff Lim made an appeal for POFMA to be rejected in parliament.
“There will be chaos. When Justice is being suppressed and people start to feel hopeless & helpless, violence will start to rear it’s ugly head. Harsher laws & more police powers will be given and things will spiral downhill real quick. Do not allow this law to be passed under our watch!”
Others found the email ironic since it could possibly mean that the lawyer involved in the matter, Kwa Kim Li, and others who may also be involved, would be lying about a matter as serious as the will of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.
/TISG