Lee Hsien Tan added another round of Leekileaks yesterday, this time aimed at showing that the ministerial committee that was set up to explore options on the 38 Oxley Road hHouse was acting furtively in its dealings with him and Dr Lee Wei Ling.
The Lee siblings are executors of Lee Kuan Yew’s estate.
Lee Hsien Yang alleged that the ministerial committee persistently refused to answer his questions in his capacity as executor of the estate despite being repeatedly queried.
He also produced portions of a letter from Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong, alleging that Wong refused to confirm if turning 38 Oxley Road into a park was a concrete consideration, or whether it was simply an “illustration”.
“The mysterious ministerial committee refused to list the options it was considering for 38 Oxley Road, even after repeated requests from Lee Kuan Yew’s Estate.”
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean sits on the ministerial committee.
His press secretary, Lee May Lin, released a response to Lee Hsien Yang’s allegations by apparently side-stepping the issues raised.
Calling Lee Hsien Yang’s statement “selective and inaccurate”, Lee said that that the committee
“The Committee had made clear to Mr LHY and Dr LWL the purpose and scope of the Committee’s work. This includes (1) Why the Committee was formed; (2) Who it reports to (namely Cabinet); (3) What it would look into; and (4) Why Mr LHY’s input would be useful.”
Lee added that the committee communicated to Lee Hsien Yang that:
“(1) it was listing the various options for the House, to present to Cabinet; (2) the Committee was not going to make any recommendations; (3) the Government had no intention of making any decision on the House, as long as Dr LWL resides there. Mr LHY himself had acknowledged this, in one of his subsequent replies.”
Lee also replied that the committee “was not making an immediate decision on the House, and that no decision may be necessary for another 20-30 years,” and that the committee it not the place where decisions on the legal validity of the Last Will can be made.”
Lee ended by saying that Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will provide a fuller explanation in Parliament today.
The public will be waiting to see if these issues are addressed instead of skirted around.
Below are letters enclosed by Lee in the statement, which were sent to Lee Hsien Yang on 27 July 2016 and 24 August 2016 (addresses removed).
This is the statement released by DPM Teo Chee Hean’s press secretary:
