In Parliament yesterday, Lee Hsien Loong revealed how Lee Kuan Yew had agreed to renovation plans in 2012. This was taken as LKY’s openness towards the preservation of 38 Oxley Road.
His younger brother, Lee Hsien Yang disputed and dismissed the statement. This is his full response on the matter:
Source: Lee Hsien Yang
My comment posted on Tharman’s Facebook:
I feel sad that we have now confirmed that there are two sets of laws for Singaporeans – one set for the elite and connected, and another for the ordinary Singaporean.
LHY and LWL are allowed to cast all sorts of aspersions at the PM, our public servants and public institutions.
These are not one-off allegations.
They are serious and numerous allegations, made in a sustained manner over more than 2 weeks.
Yet, we are today given flimsy excuses why legal action will not be taken against them.
On the other hand, less powerful or connected Singaporeans are subjected to the law of defamation, lawsuit issued in an instance and some are bankrupted or have run away from Singapore in fear.
As the NMPs asked in Parliament, and I paraphrase: how do you explain, Mr Tharman, this double standards?
You said a few days ago to Singaporeans, “Have confidence, folks.”
Perhaps you should try on the shoes of those who have been sued, bankrupted or gone into exile.
As one who supports you being PM, I am disappointed at your nonchalance in this saga.
Source: Andrew Loh
“As a grant of probate has been granted and there is no challenge, the will should be taken as valid and proper. You (PM Lee) have, however, in your statutory declaration submitted to the ministerial committee alluding to certain questionable circumstances upon which the will was executed,” MP Rahayu Mahzam said.
“This may appear to be a backdoor approach in challenging the validity of the will. Could you therefore clarify why you found it necessary to affirm the statutory declaration and your intentions in doing so?
“Why could you not just rely on the words of the will which in itself contemplated a situation where the house is not being demolished?” she asked.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (Jul 3) explained why he chose to raise in Parliament a family dispute instead of suing his siblings in response to a public spat which started in mid-June.
“Many people have asked me why I’m not taking legal action, to challenge the will, or sue for defamation, or take some other legal action to put a stop to this and clear my name,” said PM Lee. “I took advice and considered my options very carefully. I believe I have a strong case.
“In normal circumstances, in fact, in any other imaginable circumstance but this, I would have sued immediately.”
“Because the accusation of the abuse of power is a very grave one, however baseless it may be. And it is in fact an attack not just on me, but on the integrity of the whole Government.”
“But suing my own brother and sister in court would further besmirch our parents’ names,” he explained. “At the end of the day, we are brother and sister, and we are all our parents’ children.”
“It would also drag out the process for years, and cause more distraction and distress to Singaporeans. Therefore, fighting this out in court cannot be my preferred choice.”
“Every family will understand that family disputes do happen, but they are not something to flaunt in public. That is why I have done my best to deal with this out of the public eye.”
PM Lee said his purpose in keeping his submissions to the Ministerial Committee private was “not to pursue a fight with my siblings, but to assist the Committee in its work”.
“Unfortunately, my siblings made public allegations against me. I then had no choice but to defend myself, and release the statements and facts about the matter.”
“I stand by the statements I have published but I really don’t want to go further if I can help it.”
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
PM Lee is going to make a ministerial statement in parliament [today] regarding the allegations made by his siblings. Party whip has been lifted and PM Lee has urged all our MPs to question him robustly.
I dont think there will be any meaningful questions from the PAP MPs. Who would question their superiors in the real world? So this ministerial statement is just nothing but a smoke screen to appear to be upfront.
Halimah Yaacob has spoken and said that she hopes Oxley Road dispute will be ‘properly debated’.
Who among those MPs will fire the first salvo? Definitely not the Malay PAP MPs. They are known to acquiesce to anything the PAP wanted even at the expense of the community.
Instead of being the voice for the people, they are the voice of the PAP.
I’ve long ago lost hope on ‘our representative’ to stand up for us. This is why I ventured into politics. Our voices are not heard in parliament often enough.
I would put my hope more on the non Malay Mps to speak up. Our Malay PAP MPs are just too weak politically and emasculated to be fighting for us.
Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman