It’s been two days since the end of the Parliament session revolving around Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s alleged abuse of power in his family feud.
But we all know that the political drama ain’t over just yet, despite PM Lee being adamant that “people can see that there has been no abuse of power, by me or the government”.
It seems that PM Lee’s siblings are having the last word on the tiff within Singapore’s first family over the fate of 38 Oxley Road (the house of their dad, Lee Kuan Yew). Lee Hsien Yang and Dr. Lee Wei Ling certainly aren’t going to let matters rest, but in a joint statement issued this morning, they’re willing to manage the disagreement with their brother in private, without the involvement of lawyers or government agencies.
In what might be the last thing we hear and see from the siblings about the dispute, they posted a seven-page public statement and disclosed a summary of evidence that “warrants serious concern” about their brother.
Feel free to read the statement and the evidences in full, but we’ll just extract the juicy parts for some light reading below (yes, we know you’re getting fatigued by it all right now). Don’t take the points as the gospel truth though — these are just claims made by the siblings.
- PM Lee stopped talking to his siblings since Apr 12, 2015 — the day Lee Kuan Yew’s will was read.
- He “shouted and intimidated” them, angry that Wei Ling had the right to live in the house, and that 38 Oxley Road was to be demolished. “It was the crossing of the Rubicon. He has not spoken to us since.”
- PM Lee wanted to state in Parliament that their father changed his mind about demolishing the house — but siblings could not agree.
- Siblings were “gobsmacked” that PM Lee hired a lawyer to deal with the situation, forcing them to lawyer up as well.
- The first Chinese New Year reunion after Lee Kuan Yew’s death, he did not issue invitations to his siblings.
- Organs of the state rushed to assist PM Lee during the saga, sending out an “unending stream of biased reporting”.
- When Lee Kuan Yew signed renovation plans for 38 Oxley Road, it did not necessarily mean that he accepted that the house should be preserved. “Hsien Loong misled Lee Kuan Yew (and the rest of the family) that the house would be inevitably gazetted.”
- “Ministers scrambled to ‘take responsibility’ for actions that were clearly instigated by Hsien Loong’s desire to dishonour our father’s will. Government agencies intervened in the middle of the night to find excuses for the Prime Minister and Ho Ching.”
- Siblings assure that it is impossible for Members of Parliament (MPs) to “effectively question” PM Lee, especially when his party controls nearly all the seats in the house. Instead many “spoke up to parrot” PM Lee’s attacks on them and their dad’s will.
- “We would not have brought this dispute into the public eye, if there was a neutral and unbiased venue to resolve our differences in private,”. No opportunity to present their views in Parliament anyway.
- PM Lee’s attacks on them via the Ministerial Committee “escalated” this year.
- Despite answering all the Committee’s questions in detail, they ignored the answers and “keep parroting” PM Lee. Committee’s correspondence with siblings focused almost entirely on PM Lee’s attacks on their father’s will.
- “How can a committee of subordinates ever be objective and impartial in a dispute where the Prime Minister is one of the parties involved?”
- The will was clear that Lee Kuan Yew did not accept the gazetting of 38 Oxley Road. “Lee Kuan Yew always regarded the possibility of gazetting as distressing and regrettable.
- Siblings will cease presenting further evidence on social media — but only if they and their father’s wish will not be attacked or misrepresented.
- “Ultimately, it is up to the government, and the people of Singapore, to decide whether and how to hold Lee Hsien Loong to account.”
