Dispute between brothers surfaced at reading of Mr Lee’s Last Will
By Yong Siew Fern
Published: 6:35 AM, June 16, 2017
Updated: 12:39 PM, June 16, 2017
SINGAPORE — The dispute between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 65, and his brother Lee Hsien Yang, 60, arose during the reading of their father’s Last Will, and a “series of events” then led PM Lee to be “very troubled by the circumstances” surrounding the crafting of the document.
Mr Lee detailed his concerns in an edited summary of his statutory declarations to the ministerial committee, set up by the Cabinet to mull over the options regarding their family home at 38 Oxley Road.
The dispute between PM Lee and his brother surfaced at the reading of their father’s Last Will on April 12, 2015.
Their father, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, had died little under a month earlier.
Apart from PM Lee and his wife Ho Ching, also present were his sister Lee Wei Ling, his brother and wife Lee Suet Fern, and two lawyers from Mrs Lee Suet Fern’s law firm: Mr Ng Joo Khin and Mr Bernard Lui, who was a witness to the signing of the Last Will.
At that reading, Mrs Lee voluntarily told the room that the late Mr Lee had asked her to prepare the Last Will, but she had not wanted to get personally involved, so she got Mr Ng from her law firm to handle the task. Mr Lui then confirmed that he was one of the witnesses.
Observing this, PM Lee said in his statutory declaration: “I could not help but form the impression that this was all rehearsed, and wondered why these statements were made even when no questions had been raised about the validity of the Last Will.”
He added: “I was so struck by the sequence of volunteered statements that … 11 days later (on April 23), I recounted to DPM Teo Chee Hean in my office what had happened … including what Mrs Lee Suet Fern had said.”
The Prime Minister also recounted that, at the reading, Mr Lee Hsien Yang had “repeatedly insisted” on the “immediate demolition” of their parents’ house.
“I said (to him) that such a move so soon after Mr Lee’s passing, when the public’s emotions were still raw, might force the Government to promptly react by deciding to gazette the house, and that would not be in the interests of Mr Lee’s legacy, or Singapore.”
He said the discussion that followed ended only when Ms Ho intervened to ask Dr Lee if she wanted to continue living at Oxley Road. When Dr Lee replied that she would, Mr Lee Hsien Yang stopped insisting on the demolition.
The events of that day, PM Lee said, led him to look up “old family emails”. That was when he discovered an email sent by Ms Wong Lin Hoe, private secretary to the late Mr Lee, in January 2014. It was addressed to Mrs Lee Suet Fern. Other members of the family, as well as Ms Kwa Kim Li, who prepared the late Mr Lee’s six wills before his seventh — and last — will, were copied on the email.
The content of that email dealt with “the bequest of some carpets” and attached was a codicil — a supplement to a will that contains changes or explanations.
Buried in the email thread were earlier emails sent by Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife on Dec 16 and 17, 2013.
PM Lee said that, at the time, he did not think it necessary to read the entire email chain and did not do so.
He was also “not anxious to acquaint myself with my father’s wills”, he added.
In May 2015, when he asked his brother about the codicil to the Last Will, he was reminded that he was copied in that 2014 email. When he could not find it, he asked his brother for a copy.
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Govt has powers to do ‘what is in national interests when it comes to property rights’
By Kenneth Cheng
Published: 5:20 PM, June 16, 2017
Updated: 6:21 PM, June 16, 2017
SINGAPORE — The dispute between the Lee siblings over their Oxley Road family home has highlighted an issue that has arisen from time to time - the Government’s rights over property owners.
Recently, the case of the Merpati Road houses being acquired to make way for the future Mattar MRT station also made the headlines. As in the case of acquisition of land, homes or buildings for public amenities or other uses, the Government can also take over ownership of a property by gazetting it as a national monument, property law experts contacted by TODAY said.
Over the last few years, as the building of infrastructure has accelerated, such land acquisitions have become more common. Earlier this year, for example, the Singapore Land Authority put the Raffles Country Club on notice that it would have to vacate its 143-ha premises, which include a golf course, to make way by Jul 31 next year, for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail.
The experts reiterated that in general, the Government has the legislative powers to do what is in the national interest. This includes overriding an individual’s wishes in a will regarding a property.
Dr Kevin Tan, a legal academic and president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites Singapore, said the State can legislate and “do anything that (it) thinks is in the interest of Singapore”. For instance, if a property is under consideration to be gazetted as a monument under the Preservation of Monuments Act, it would be a decision for the Preservation of Sites and Monuments division, which is under the National Heritage Board, and the National Development Minister.
“By operation of law, of course, you can override an individual will,” he said, pointing to cases where wills were overridden on the grounds that they went against public policy. For instance, in the “rule against perpetuities”, one cannot hold a property forever.
“You can’t say, ‘I want to give it to my great-grandson’s grandson’s grandson; that’s against public policy,” Dr Tan explained.
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Stamford Law, Lee Suet Fern had no role in drafting any of Mr Lee’s Last Will: Lee Hsien Yang
Published: 2:50 PM, June 16, 2017
Updated: 3:54 PM, June 16, 2017
SINGAPORE – In a span of several hours, Mr Lee Hsien Yang came out twice on Friday (June 16) to rebut Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s concerns over the role his wife Mrs Lee Suet Fern and her law firm, Stamford Law, played in the drafting of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wills.
In his first post on Facebook, early on Friday morning, he stated that Stamford Law did not draft his father’s Last Will. He said his brother’s “claimed recollection to that effect is clearly erroneous”, adding, “LHL’s (Lee Hsien Loong’s) secret committee ignored it”.
Before ending the post with a question – “besides, we thought this was a ‘private family matter?’, a reference to the PM’s earlier statement that the airing of the feud had saddened him – Mr Lee Hsien Yang also said both he and his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, had already responded to a ministerial committee’s questions on how the Last Will was prepared, and the role played by Mrs Lee Suet Fern and Stamford Law in it.
Calling the PM’s assertion “a lie”, he said they had responded on Feb 28.
In a post several hours later, at 1.05pm, he went further, saying: “Stamford Law did not draft any will for LKY. The will was drafted by Kwa Kim Li of Lee & Lee.”
Rebutting “grave concerns” raised by PM Lee on Thursday over the role played by his sister-in-law, Mrs Lee, and the potential conflict of interest on her part, the younger Mr Lee added: “Paragraph 7 of the Will was drafted at LKY’s (Lee Kuan Yew’s) direction, and put into language by Lee Suet Fern his daughter in law and when he was satisfied he asked Kim Li to insert it into his will.”
The Stamford lawyers were called in to witness the signing of the will on express written instructions from his father, and it was Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s estate that had instructed the law firm to extract probate.
On the role of another lawyer mentioned by PM Lee in the edited summary of his statutory declarations – Ng Joo Khin – Mr Lee Hsien Yang said his role was to read the will to the beneficiaries.
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Chinese state media, netizens seize on Lee family dispute to criticise Singapore
Published: 8:00 PM, June 16, 2017
Updated: 8:55 PM, June 16, 2017
SINGAPORE — Chinese state media and netizens have seized on the feud between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings to criticise the Republic’s leadership, drawing a sharp contrast between their coverage and that of the media in countries around the world, which have mostly stuck to factual and balanced reporting.
On Thursday (June 15), for example, the Global Times ran an opinion piece headlined “Is family feud indicating a broader dispute in Singapore?” In adopting a hectoring tone, the piece posited that the family dispute was a sign that socio-political tensions were brewing in Singapore.
“The attack launched on Lee Hsien Loong by his two siblings to some extent represents the dissatisfactions of the liberals and opposition parties against the ‘central interest group’ built up by Lee Hsien Loong, which may lead to the outburst of conflicts in Singapore,” the commentary said.
It went on to say that “Singapore appears to be ill-prepared to adapt to global changes. Its avid support of the South China Sea arbitration rendered the country isolated. As an active promoter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it was caught in an awkward position after US President Donald Trump discarded the deal. These have cornered Singapore into an unprecedented passive diplomatic position”.
It concluded thus: “Lee Hsien Loong has been granted a chance on the stage of history, but is being rooted against by his siblings. His winning edge lies only in his governance achievements.”
The tabloid, which is published by the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily, and thus offers a view of official thinking, has long had Singapore in its sights.
Last November, after the Singapore Armed Forces’ Terrex vehicles were seized, it warned that the Republic’s “hypocrisy” over its military relationship with Taiwan could harm its relations with China.
A month earlier, it published a series of reports critical of PM Lee’s official visit to Japan. The newspaper claimed that Singapore had agreed to cooperate with Tokyo on various issues, including territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
That charge came after it alleged in September that Singapore had pushed for a stronger statement on an international tribunal ruling invalidating Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea during the Non-Aligned Movement summit. Singapore’s ambassador to China, Stanley Loh, rebutted the report, calling it “false and unfounded”, but the paper stood by its story.
Global Times’ readership comprises a sizeable number of young nationalists.
Those voices were very much in evidence on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, after reports of the dispute between the Lees were published.
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Singapore will not be dragged down by Lee family’s ‘petty disputes’: ESM Goh
16 Jun 2017 11:20PM (Updated: 16 Jun 2017 11:51PM)
SINGAPORE: Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has weighed in on a growing dispute between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings over their late father’s Oxley Road home.
“Singapore has prevailed through crises and adversity. We are a hardy people, built our family and nation from humble beginnings. What is happening in public between Lee Kuan Yew’s children is not us and should not be allowed to define who we are,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday evening (Jun 16).
“We are bigger than our troubles, stronger than our differences. Whatever damage Singapore may suffer, willfully inflicted or otherwise, I know Singaporeans will not lay meek. We will not be dragged down by a family’s petty disputes,” Mr Goh said.
“We will always look forward, to fight real battles and create a better future for ourselves and our children.”
The dispute saw PM Lee’s two siblings make a series of allegations against their elder brother, claiming that he opposed their father’s wish to demolish the house, and that he had an incentive to preserve the house “to inherit (Lee Kuan Yew’s) credibility”.
The allegations led PM Lee to make public the statutory declaration he had submitted to an internal ministerial committee that was set up to consider the future of the late Mr Lee’s house.
In it, he expressed “grave concerns” about the way in which Mr Lee’s last will was made - in particular, the removal and subsequent re-insertion of a clause stating the late Mr Lee’s wish that his house be demolished after his death.
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Chinese nationalists gloat over Singapore first family saga
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 June, 2017, 4:13pm
UPDATED : Friday, 16 June, 2017, 5:36am
Nectar Gan
Mainlanders watching with interest a bitter feud playing out among Singapore’s first family have taken to social media to vent about the “anti-China” administration, while others reflected on the politics of their own country.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s two younger siblings on Wednesday issued a statement on Facebook accusing him of misusing his power and betraying the legacy of their late father and founding leader of the city-state, Lee Kuan Yew.
They said they believed their brother was using state organs to harass them – and they feared for their safety. Lee Hsien Loong responded by criticising his siblings for “publicising private family matters”.
Facebook is banned on mainland China, but reports of the dispute – which centres on the fate of a house where Lee Kuan Yew lived for seven decades – were carried by state media outlets including news agency Xinhua, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and nationalist tabloid Global Times.
Many of those commenting online were keen to see how the drama would unfold, while nationalists who accused Singapore of being “anti-China” took the opportunity to gloat about Lee Hsien Loong’s troubles.
Lee Kuan Yew family feud deepens as Singapore PM’s brother questions his pledge to stay out of home decision(
“The Lee family is the vanguard of anti-China [forces]. But if you want to oppose China, you should first get your family matters in order,” read one comment on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
Meanwhile a report on the open feud in Global Times on Thursday was flooded with some 5,600 comments – many of them showing more than a touch of schadenfreude.
The top comment attracted 1,440 “likes”: “Lee Hsien Loong, an anti-China lackey of the United States. Even his siblings are breaking from him. Chinese people should forever remember this anti-China lackey of the West. He is more anti-China than anyone else.”
Partly fanned by state media, nationalist sentiment has been on the rise in China in recent years, with a younger and more vocal generation frequently going online to defend their country against the slightest criticism – or to attack any foreign countries or leaders they see as running counter to the national interest.
How China is using its Global Times attack dog to intimidate Singapore(
Lee Hsien Loong’s administration angered many Chinese nationalists during a diplomatic row over the South China Sea last summer. Since then, mistrust has grown between the two nations – which have long shared deep ethnic and cultural bonds – as China continues to take a more assertive stance on foreign policy.
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Singapore rocked by open feud in Lee family
By Afp
Published: 13:18 BST, 14 June 2017 | Updated: 13:18 BST, 14 June 2017
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stands at an event at the Istana presidential palace in Singapore
Tightly-ruled Singapore was rocked by an unprecedented political drama Wednesday when a feud between the children of the late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew over his legacy burst into the open.
The founder’s oldest child, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, came under attack online before dawn from his younger brother Lee Hsien Yang, and younger sister Lee Wei Ling. They accused him of exploiting their father’s legacy for his own political agenda, a charge the premier quickly denied.
The pair also claimed that their brother had abused his powers to harass them – and Hsien Yang said he had decided to leave the country as a result.
The feud had simmered following the death in March 2015 of the elder Lee, who ruled Singapore with an iron hand but transformed the city-state from a relatively poor British colony into one of the world´s wealthiest and most stable societies.
But the quarrel intensified in the small hours of Wednesday with the issuance of the extraordinary statement, which immediately went viral in a country where tough laws against protests and curbs on press freedom have stifled political dissent.
- More than a family feud -
“The timing is important as Singapore has been facing more uncertainty both in terms of the current and future leadership as well as the economy and regional situation,” said Southeast Asia watcher Bridget Welsh, a visiting professor at John Cabot University in Rome.
“An attack from trusted family members is impactful and legitimately raises questions. Some will see this as a family squabble but it is clearly more than this,” she told AFP.
“The effects are to raise questions about how Lee Hsien Loong is using his father’s legacy… also attention will be brought to (Lee’s) wife and her power and legacy… It will cause introspection about whether Singapore can be separated in the future from the Lee family.”
The siblings’ grievances largely centre on the fate of the family’s home after their father’s death.
The pair said their brother Lee had defied their father’s instructions to tear it down.
A cabinet statement Wednesday said however that PM Lee has “recused himself from all government decisions” about the fate of the former family home.
Lee Hsien Loong’s wife Ho Ching is the chief executive of state investment firm Temasek Holdings, which had global assets worth Sg$242 billion ($180 billion) as of March 2016.
“We have felt threatened by Hsien Loong´s misuse of his position and influence over the Singapore government and its agencies to drive his personal agenda,” read the statement posted online by his siblings.
“We have observed that Hsien Loong and Ho Ching want to milk Lee Kuan Yew´s legacy for their own political purposes,” the statement said, adding that they harbour political ambitions for one of their sons.
Michael Barr, associate professor of international relations at Flinders University in Adelaide, said “normal people who try to do something similar would´ve been dealt with by the courts by now”, referring to the strong criticism of Lee.
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Lee family feud rocks Singapore
By Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2017/6/15 23:33:39
City-state suffers series of failures under current PM
The dispute between Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings might challenge the stability of the country and bring pressure for political reform, experts said.
Lee Hsien Yang, the second son of Singapore’s first leader Lee Kuan Yew, and his sister Lee Wei Ling, posted a statement on Wednesday, accusing their older brother of using their father’s legacy to reinforce his own power and personal popularity.
“The dispute between the prime minister and his siblings is actually about the use of the former leader Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy in Singaporean politics,” Xu Liping, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.
As Lee Hsien Loong’s achievements in government, compared to his father’s, are not as impressive, this open family feud might affect his political status to some extent, Xu said.
The dispute was apparently sparked by disagreement over the fate of the family home at 38 Oxley Road.
The late prime minister had asked for it to be demolished upon his death, part of his long-held belief against monuments and self-aggrandizement, but the house has been preserved.
“However, we believe that [Lee] Hsien Loong and [his wife] Ho Ching are motivated by a desire to inherit Lee Kuan Yew’s standing and reputation for themselves and their children,” read Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling’s statement.
Political ambitions
The two siblings also said in the statement that Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, the chief executive of state investment firm Temasek Holdings, also “harbor political ambitions” for their son Li Hongyi.
“To appoint a successor within the first family in Singapore is becoming increasingly unacceptable, and pressure on the ruling party, the People’s Action Party, is actually growing,” Chu Yin, an associate professor at the University of International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Chu said that the Lee family’s public feud shows that democratization in the country is increasing and that Lee Hsien Loong is not an unchallengeable figure in Singapore.
In response to his siblings’ allegations, Lee Hsien Loong released a statement on his Facebook account on Wednesday, saying that he was “very disappointed that my siblings have chosen to issue a statement publicizing private family matters.” He denied the accusations, including any political plan for his son.
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Singapore’s Lee family spat is ugly, but unlikely to impact PM’s grip on power
By P N Balji
Updated 0447 GMT (1247 HKT) June 15, 2017
Story highlights
Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong’s character and leadership is being attacked by his own siblings
However, their claims are unlikely to affect the popular leader’s reputation very much
Editor’s Note: Veteran Singaporean journalist P N Balji is the former chief editor of Singapore’s Today newspaper, and currently a media consultant. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.
(CNN) — The peace and quiet of an oasis called Singapore was shattered early on Wednesday morning as an ugly fight among members of the country’s most prominent family spilled into the open, with accusations being made about the character and leadership of the prime minister and his wife.
In a statement headlined “What Has Happened To Lee Kuan Yew’s Values,” the island nation’s founding father’s younger son and daughter made chilling accusations against the elder son and current prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.
“We are disturbed by the character, conduct, motives and leadership of Lee Hsien Loong and the role of his wife, Ho Ching. We have seen a completely different face to our brother, one that deeply troubles us,” they charged.
Their accusations went beyond the original bone of contention – what to do with Lee Kuan Yew’s bungalow – and went into areas like Ho Ching’s “pervasive influence which extends beyond her job purview.” Ho Ching is the CEO of the government’s investment company, Temasek Holdings. There were also allegations that the PM and his wife “harbor political ambitions for their son, Li Hongyi.”
Lee Hsien Yang leaves the Supreme court on April 10, 2017.
Lee Hsien Yang leaves the Supreme court on April 10, 2017.
Festering dispute
The dispute over the house has festered since Lee Kuan Yew died two years ago, with accusations that the PM and his wife were against the elder Lee’s wish that the property be demolished. This time round, the allegations have become sharper and more personal with the younger Lees saying the PM and his wife want to move into the house to “strengthen Hsien Loong’s inherited mandate for himself and his family.”
The house in the upmarket Orchard Road area has been the subject of much debate. Lee Kuan Yew had talked about his and his wife’s wish to send the bulldozers in after their deaths. “I have seen other houses, Nehru’s. Shakespeare’s. They became a shambles after a while,” the former PM said in one interview.
But what was left unsaid – at least publicly – was the house’s historical and heritage value. Built more than 200 years ago by a Jewish merchant, the house was bought by Lee Kuan Yew in 1945 and was witness to many of Singapore’s significant historical moments. That was the place Lee and his comrades met to discuss the formation of a political movement to fight for Singapore’s independence from Britain and plot the painful separation from Malaysia.
Shouldn’t a house with so many historic memories be preserved, asked some. Others argued that the old man’s wish should be granted as he had done so much for the country.
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Lee Kuan Yew gave ’express instructions’ to revert to first version of his will, says Lee Hsien Yang
SINGAPORE: Lee Kuan Yew gave “express instructions” that his final will of December 2013 be a reversion to his 2011 will, the founding Prime Minister’s youngest son, Lee Hsien Yang, said on Saturday (Jun 17) regarding the dispute between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings over their late father’s Oxley Road home.
PM Lee had raised “grave concerns” about how his father’s last will had been prepared – in particular, the removal and subsequent re-insertion of a clause stating the late Mr Lee’s wish that the house be demolished after his death.
“I am not aware of any facts which suggest that Mr Lee was informed or advised … about all the changes that were made when he signed the Last Will, or that Mr Lee was properly advised about the contents of the Last Will,” PM Lee said in a statutory declaration to a ministerial committee tasked to consider the future of the house.
“In fact, there is no evidence that Mr Lee even knew that the Demolition Clause had been re-inserted into the Last Will,” the Prime Minister said.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said: “The demolition wish in his 2011 will was introduced after Lee Kuan Yew’s meeting with Cabinet.”
“My father’s Final Will of December 2013 was a reversion to his 2011 will on his express instructions,” he said.
Mr Lee said that the execution of the final will was “done openly” and PM Lee was “kept in the loop”.
The younger Mr Lee also responded to PM Lee’s observation that it had taken less than 15 minutes for the final will to be executed.
“It was a four-page document (Mr Lee Kuan Yew) had seen before and was familiar with,” Mr Lee Hsien Yang said, adding that the line spacing of the document “was not dense”.
He also cited a file note by the two lawyers from Stamford Law, his wife’s law firm, who witnessed the signing.
The lawyers “noted that ‘LKY read through every line of the will and was comfortable to sign and initial at every page, which he did in our presence’”, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said.
He reiterated that the proper place to challenge the final will was in court.
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And we know how the court will decide .