Now that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has assured the public that he’s ready to be interrogated in Parliament about the whole Oxley Road saga, his brother Lee Hsien Yang has turned his iron sights towards another figure: the PM’s wife, Ho Ching.
And what a bold, perilous move he executed in the latest development to a tiresome tiff. Hsien Yang accused his sister-in-law of purloining a number of documents belonging to his late father and founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew — while the man was gravely ill in an Intensive Care Unit, no less. Gasp!
In his own words, Ho Ching “helped herself” to the items (including a letter and a telegram from the ’50s), which she then handed over to the National Heritage Board (NHB) on loan.
“She had no business doing this when LKY was in ICU and it is deeply troubling that someone can represent the (Prime Minister’s Office) despite holding no official position”, Hsien Yang wrote on Facebook.
But then came the holes in his accusations.
Turns out, Ho Ching wasn’t even in Singapore during the time she allegedly “helped herself” to the documents. Channel NewsAsia pointed out that records show she was abroad at the time, accompanying PM Lee on an official visit to Germany and Spain. In fact, she was in Madrid on Feb 6.
Undeterred, Hsien Yang insisted that his sister-in-law still had something to do with it all, considering the NHB document placed her as the point of contact for the items. “…can she please identify the subordinate she instructed to take our father’s belongings?” he pleaded.
Then came another revelation. NHB clarified that the items were actually received on Apr 6, 2015 (after Lee Kuan Yew’s death on Mar 23) instead of Feb 6, as indicated in the list. This was due to a clerical error, NHB stated, and the items were loaned to them for an exhibition that paid tribute to the late statesman.
“This is even more troubling,” said Hsien Yang in response to the clarification. Now, Ho Ching is accused of being a thief — according to him, the removal of the items were unapproved by the estate’s executors, which are him and his sister, Lee Wei Ling.
Whatever the case, this feud among Singapore’s first family isn’t coming to an end anytime soon, we reckon.
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