The bitter Lee Family Feud continues.
This time, Lee Hsien Yang has put up another Leekileak accusing Big Bro, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, of misleading their father Lee Kuan Yew.
Lee Hsien Yang shared an email, supposedly written by Lee Kuan Yew to PM Lee and his wife, Ho Ching, discussing the status of the 38 Oxley Road house.
In that email dated 3 Oct 2011, LKY told Ho Ching that “Loong as PM has indicated that he will declare it a heritage site.”
Lee Hsien Yang said that PM Lee didn’t reply to that email or object to the statement, but later on 23 July 2015 his personal lawyer Lucien Wong claimed that “it is not correct that our client ever informed Mr Lee Kuan Yew, or anyone else, that the House at 38 Oxley Road (“the House”) was to be gazetted as a national monument”.
Lee Hsien Yang claimed that Wong also said the government “had (and has) not made any decision on what (if anything) should be done with the house.”
That correspondence, according to Lee Hsien Yang, showed that PM Lee had misled Lee Kuan Yew over the status of the Oxley Road house, since he had earlier told LKY that he had decided “in his capacity as PM” to declare the house a heritage site.
Lee Hsien Yang and his sister Dr Lee Wei Ling had made a similar allegation in their initial statement released last week that PM Lee had tricked LKY in order to preserve the Oxley Road house to boost his political capital:
“What has been distressing are the lengths to which Hsien Loong and Ho Ching have gone and are willing to go to get what they want. On Hsien Loong’s insistence, Lee Kuan Yew met with the Singapore Cabinet on 21 July 2011 to discuss the fate of his personal home. Wei Ling met Lee Kuan Yew on the steps of their home as he returned from that meeting. He was anguished and despondent and told Wei Ling “I should not have listened to Loong and gone to meet Cabinet.” He was pained that Hsien Loong, his own son, opposed his wishes in this manner.
Lee Kuan Yew believed that Hsien Loong and Ho Ching were behind what was represented to the family as a government initiative to preserve the house. In due course, Hsien Loong himself made his position clear to Lee Kuan Yew. On 3 October 2011, Lee Kuan Yew wrote: “Loong as PM has indicated that he will declare it a heritage site.”
Lee Kuan Yew specifically inserted into his will his wish for 38 Oxley Road to be demolished so as to make it difficult for Hsien Loong to misuse the Cabinet to preserve it. He also removed Hsien Loong as an executor and trustee of his will. The wish, which was instructed to be made public as needed, was Lee Kuan Yew’s direct appeal to the people of Singapore. It was his only request of them on his passing.
At the reading of Lee Kuan Yew’s will, Hsien Loong was very angry that the will gave Wei Ling the right to remain living in the house and that it made clear Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for its demolition immediately upon her passing or relocation. Hsien Loong threatened us and demanded our silence on our father’s last wish. He wanted to assert in Parliament that Lee Kuan Yew had changed his mind, hoping to inherit the faith Singaporeans had in Lee Kuan Yew through the visible symbol of the house. “
(READ MORE: Lee Family Feud)
Yesterday, Lee Hsien Yang also accused Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean of lying.
He said DPM Teo had claimed that he had discussed options regarding the Oxley Road house with him and Dr Lee, but that discussion never took place.
“DPM Teo Chee Hean on 17 June 2017: “The Committee has tasked the relevant agencies to study a range of options for the property. I have shared some of these options with the siblings.”
Wei Ling and I wish to clarify that we have had no interaction with DPM Teo Chee Hean in his capacity as Chair of the Committee since the Committee has been formed. Neither has Lawrence Wong who was the sole point of contact given any indication of the range of options under consideration.
We had met with DPM Teo on numerous occasions apart from and well before the formation of the committee. During those discussions we had explored a wide range of options as well as concerns we had regarding Lee Hsien Loong and his family. DPM was always careful to preface his remarks that any views he expressed were personal views.”
PM Lee has said that he will issue a ministerial statement during the 3 July parliament sitting, and answer questions from parliamentarians regarding the Lee Family Feud.
Besides an argument over the fate of 38 Oxley Road, PM Lee’s siblings have also accused him of abusing his position as prime minister, and nepotism.
