Lee Hsien Yang waging 'personal vendetta' against his family and his country: Govt

Lee Hsien Yang has turned a personal vendetta into an international smear campaign against his father, family and country, said the Singapore government on Thursday (Oct 31). 

The statement comes after Lee's interview with the Associated Press (AP) published on Thursday, where he claimed that Singapore has become much more repressive in the decade since the death of his father, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. 

In the interview with the American news outlet, Lee, who was recently granted political asylum in the UK, said: "Singapore has this veneer that purports to be a sort of affluent, democratic, free country. The veneer is quite thin," 

"Beneath that there is a repressive nature to that regime and there are people fleeing from it." 

Addressing Lee's claims, the Singapore government on Thursday (Oct 31) noted that Lee, 67, was a "major beneficiary of the Singapore system". 

However, once he was found by the court and a Disciplinary Tribunal to have misled his father in the execution of the latter's will, Lee decided to turn his "personal vendetta into an international smear campaign against his father, his family and his country". 

In 2020, both the Court of Three Judges and a Disciplinary Tribunal found that Lee and his wife, Suet Fern had presented an "elaborate edifice of lies" pertaining to the execution of Lee Kuan Yew's will. 

They had also reportedly lied under oath. 

[[nid:705186]]

Lee is 'not a victim of persecution' 

In its statement, the government also debunked claims that Lee is being persecuted.

Lee purportedly claimed in his asylum application that one of the reasons why the government was persecuting him was to prevent his son, Li Shengwu, from becoming Prime Minister. 

"That he would go so far as to allege this — though his son has repeatedly said he has no such ambition— shows his campaign against Singapore is not based on principles," said the government.  

Lee's son, Li Shengwu, said in 2017 Facebook post that he has no intention of going into politics. 

"I believe that it would be bad for Singapore if any third-generation Lee went into politics. The country must be bigger than one family," he wrote then. 

Lee and wife free to return to Singapore: Police

On Oct 22, Lee announced that he had been granted "refugee status" after seeking asylum protection in 2022. He said he sought asylum as a "last resort" because of the government's "attacks" against him. 

Lee and his wife left Singapore in June 2022, after refusing to attend a police interview.

The police have said, however, the couple remain citizens and "are and have always been free to return to Singapore". 

The government's statement on Thursday also addressed Lee's interview with UK newspaper The Guardian, where he said that Singapore has retained its repressive measures from his father's time as prime minister. 

"However, after being called unfilial by Singaporeans for criticising his father thus, Lee Hsien Yang now asserts instead that Singapore’s laws have become much more politically repressive since Lee Kuan Yew's death," said the statement. 

Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country that has held regular elections without fail and without suspending its Constitution, noted the government. 

It added that Singaporeans are free to vote for whichever party they deem better for the country, and that 40 per cent of Singaporeans vote for opposition parties. 

Lee himself has also freely participated in politics, having joined the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) before the 2020 General Election. 

[[nid:707031]]

Examples of corruption thoroughly addressed 

In the AP interview, Lee also alleged that Singapore's banks and companies have been linked to growing numbers of money laundering and corruption scandals in recent years. 

He cited several recent cases, such as the $1.75b money laundering case in 2023, and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal in 2017. 

The government added that all the examples of corruption Lee mentioned have been "thoroughly addressed, either through the courts or in parliament". 

The ten offenders in the billion-dollar money laundering case were sentenced in court, and had their assets seized. 

The government also took "robust actions" against the banks and individuals who failed their discharge their anti-money laundering obligation in the 1MDB case. 

In addition, the government has acted "firmly and decisively" against those who break the country's laws. 

It brought up the case of a former minister who was sentenced to a year's jail for accepting gifts. 

"If he had been a minister elsewhere he would not have been charged for accepting such gifts, let alone sentenced to a year in prison." 

"Just as Lee Kuan Yew acted when he was Prime Minister, neither Lee Hsien Loong nor his successor Lawrence Wong prevented their former colleague from being investigated, prosecuted and convicted." 

"Singapore takes a firm stance against corruption and other serious financial crimes. This was the case when Lee Kuan Yew was in Cabinet. And it has remained so even after his passing in 2015, as evidenced by global rankings," the government said. 

When Lee Kuan Yew was alive, Singapore ranked seventh in the 2015 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, and third in the 2015 World Justice Project’s index for the absence of corruption in its legal and law enforcement systems.

As of 2023, eight years after Mr Lee’s passing, Singapore was ranked fifth and third on these indices respectively.

READ ALSO: 38 Oxley Road: Govt says Lee Hsien Yang aware his claims are inaccurate, and is creating 'false urgency' for demolition

claudiatan@asiaone.com