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Tag: Lee Hsien Yang

  • Alfian Sa’at: Singaporeans Shouldn’t Be Ashamed Of Public Lee Family Spat

    Alfian Sa’at: Singaporeans Shouldn’t Be Ashamed Of Public Lee Family Spat

    Those who say to Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling: “Please don’t make your spat public, the world is laughing at us, I feel embarrassed when I have to explain to my overseas friends what is going on”, are you for realz?

    I think you’re either being disingenuous or hypocritical if the Oxley saga makes you feel embarrassed and awkward, but not these other questions, which I regularly get from my foreign friends:

    – How come your prime minister is the son of a former prime minister?
    – Meritocracy, really?
    – How come your prime minister’s wife is the director of the national wealth fund?
    – Meritocracy?
    – What does meritocracy mean in your country?
    – Why do you ban chewing gum?
    – Why do you cane people who spray graffiti?
    – How come you’re supposed to be a ‘developed country’ but your press freedom ranking is so low?
    – Why do you hang people people who sell drugs but not people who take them?
    – How come your country isn’t ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister?
    – Why do you criminalise what consensual adults do in the privacy of their bedrooms?
    – Why are there so many incidents of domestic worker abuse and suicides from your country?
    – Why do people from your country visit ours and do things they wouldn’t do in yours, like littering, speeding, and shouting ‘so cheap!’ at everything?

    Really, what is this selective shame? I can tell you that I don’t feel embarrassed at all explaining what’s happening with 38 Oxley Road. So here are a few things you can tell your foreign inquisitors: It’s a dispute over a will. There are serious questions to be asked about whether there has been an abuse of power. Like every other political system all over the world that emphasises checks and balances, we need to enforce safeguards that ensure our politicians do not act with impunity, and do not use state organs to further their personal interests.

    You know how Trump is being investigated for potential obstruction of justice, or all those conflict of interest lawsuits regarding his business holdings and the emoluments clause, not to mention the ostensibly nepotistic practice of putting Ivanka and Jared in politically influential positions? Same thing in our country: if there’s any wrongdoing, the media has an obligation to expose it, and the law must take its course.

    And lastly, I don’t feel embarrassed because I have never thought that our Prime Minister, or the PAP for that matter, ever represented the best of what my country has produced. (Can I interest you, instead, in some of our brilliant sportspeople, our filmmakers, our artists, our tenacious and courageous activists?) There are many other Singaporean things I am fiercely and passionately proud of and well…Lee Hsien Loong and his party are not on that list.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • PM Lee Hsien Loong Memohon Maaf Kepada Rakyat Singapura

    PM Lee Hsien Loong Memohon Maaf Kepada Rakyat Singapura

    Perdana Menteri Lee Hsien Loong meminta maaf kepada rakyat Singapura di atas pertikaian keluarga antara beliau dengan adik beradiknya, Dr. Lee Wei Ling dan Lee Hsien Yang, dan melahirkan rasa sangat kesal bahawa peristiwa itu menjejas reputasi Singapura dan keyakinan rakyat terhadap Pemerintah. PM Lee juga menyatakan, beliau mahu meyakinkan rakyat Singapura bahawa perkara ini tidak akan mengganggu beliau dan rakan-rakan Kabinetnya daripada tanggungjawab memerintah Singapura. Ini juga tambah beliau tidak akan mengganggu beliau dan Pemerintah dalam menghuraikan isu-isu nasional yang lebih penting, termasuk cabaran-cabaran ekonomi dan keselamatan yang sedang dihadapi Singapura.

    Semasa menyampaikan permohonan maaf kepada rakyat Singapura, PM Lee akur bahawa rakyat Singapura terganggu dan bingung dengan berita pertikaian antara beliau dengan adik beradiknya sejak seminggu lalu. PM Lee seterusnya menyatakan, beliau sudah melakukan segala yang terdaya untuk mengelakkan peristiwa tersebut. PM Lee menjelaskan, beliau cuba menghuraikan perasaan kurang senang mereka secara privet. Ini termasuklah menawarkan untuk memindahkan 38 Oxley Road kepada adiknya, Dr Lee Wei Ling, dengan harga nominal $1.

    PM Lee menyatakan, beliau berharap langkah-langkah tersebut akan memuaskan adik beradiknya itu dan seharusnya tiada lagi percakaran lanjut kerana beliau tidak lagi memiliki rumah tersebut, serta tidak mengambil bahagian dalam sebarang keputusan Pemerintah mengenai rumah tersebut. Perdana Menteri selanjutnya menyatakan, beliau mahu melupakan peristiwa ini. Namun tuduhan-tuduhan tersebut, yang disifatkannya sebagai tidak berasas terhadap Pemerintah, “tidak boleh dibiarkan tidak terjawab”. Sebagai kakitangan awam, tulisnya lagi, beliau dan para Menterinya akan terus melindungi integriti institusi-institusinya dan menegakkan piawai yang tinggi – iaitu membezakan antara ehwal privet daripada tugas-tugas awam.

     

    Source: Berita Mediacorp

  • Khan Osman Sulaiman: If Lee Hsien Loong Can Do This To His Family, What About Normal Singaporeans?

    Khan Osman Sulaiman: If Lee Hsien Loong Can Do This To His Family, What About Normal Singaporeans?

    The dispute between Lee Hsien Loong (LHL) and his siblings is not uncommon. It centered around carrying out their dead father’s wish of demolishing Oxley Rise.

    In Islam, we have what we call ‘Amanah.’ Amanah is something placed on the shoulders of someone to carry out certain instructions to the best of our ability and fulfil the wishes of the dead as long as it doesnt transgress our religious doctrines.

    I believe we have heard of such incidents many times on the issue of not carrying out the ‘amanah’ someone placed on us. In this instance, it is LHL who is in the spotlight.

    The no-confidence vote by both LHL’s siblings is natural. We cannot expect a person who disrespect a dead man’s wish to hold big responsibilities like managing Singapore.

    If he cannot act justly in private, what can the people of Singapore expect on a bigger scale like managing a country? We already see how he has no qualms manipulating the system to benefit himself.

    The meritocratic society that he espouses is nothing but a facade to give hope to Singaporeans. Singapore crony-capitalism index shows how our meritocratic ideals have taken a back seat. And it is the people who suffer at the hands of an incompetent leader. Add to it, a morally bankrupt one.

     

    Source:Khan Osman Sulaiman

  • Netizen: Lee Hsien Loong Needs To Be Answerable To Public On Accusations By Siblings

    Netizen: Lee Hsien Loong Needs To Be Answerable To Public On Accusations By Siblings

    No, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, we need answers/ specific clarifications (if possible, independent inquiry) into these allegations:

    1) that you used your position as prime minister to obtain documents (Deed of Gift) given to the ministry via Lawrence Wong. (abuse of powers)

    2) that your wife, Ho Ching, has ‘pervasive influence’ that ‘extends well beyond her job purview’ despite not being an elected official or govt official. (conflict of interest and overreach of power)

    3) that you made your personal lawyer, Lucien Wong, the Attorney-General in Jan 2017. (favouritism/ nepotism)

    4) that you monitored your two siblings so much that Lee Hsien Yang, your own brother, wants to leave the country. (threatening/ police state)

    re: https://goo.gl/G71SrX

     

    Source: Albert Tay

  • PM Lee Hsien Loong ‘Saddened’ By Statement From Siblings Lee Wei Ling And Lee Hsien Yang

    PM Lee Hsien Loong ‘Saddened’ By Statement From Siblings Lee Wei Ling And Lee Hsien Yang

    Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has expressed his disappointment and sadness over a statement issued by his siblings “publicising private family matters”.

    “I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations that they have made. Ho Ching and I deny these allegations, especially the absurd claim that I have political ambitions for my son,” said Mr Lee, in response to a six-page public statement issued by his siblings on Wednesday (June 14).

    Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang had said in their statement that they had lost confidence in their brother, PM Lee.

    In response, PM Lee said: “While siblings may have differences, I believe that any such differences should stay in the family. Since my father’s passing in March 2015, as the eldest son I have tried my best to resolve the issues among us within the family, out of respect for our parents. My siblings’ statement has hurt our father’s legacy. ”

    In their statement, which they publicised on their Facebook pages around 2am, the two siblings said they felt closely monitored and fear the use of organs of state against them and Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Suet Fern.

    They also said the situation is such that Mr Lee Hsien Yang felt compelled to leave Singapore “for the foreseeable future”.

    The two siblings allege, among others, that since their father Lee Kuan Yew’s death on March 23, 2015, there have been changes in Singapore that do not reflect what the late Mr Lee stood for.

    At the centre of their statement, titled ‘What has happened to Lee Kuan Yew’s values?’, is the long-running dispute over the demolition of their father’s house at 38 Oxley Road.

    The two siblings are joint executors and trustees of the estate of the late Mr Lee.

    In their statement, they reiterated their father’s wish that the house be demolished upon his passing, and said their brother and his wife Ho Ching had opposed this wish as “the preservation of the house would enhance his political capital”.

    The two siblings also alleged that preserving the house would allow their brother “and his family to inherit a tangible monument to Lee Kuan Yew’s authority”.

    Prime Minister Lee responded to this by saying: “I will do my utmost to continue to do right by my parents. At the same time, I will continue serving Singaporeans honestly and to the best of my ability. In particular that means upholding meritocracy, which is a fundamental value of our society.”

    The statement from the siblings came 1 1/2 years after Dr Lee, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and PM Lee issued a joint statement in Dec 2015 saying the brothers had each agreed to donate half the value of 38 Oxley Road to charities named in their father’s obituary notice.

    Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang had said they would like to honour their father’s wish for the house to be demolished after Dr Lee ceases to live in it.

    PM Lee had said he had recused himself from all government decisions involving the house and, in his personal capacity, would also like to see this wish honoured.

    This morning, he ended his response by saying: “As my siblings know, I am presently overseas on leave with my family. I will consider this matter further after I return this weekend.”

     

    Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/