I am a political refugee under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention: Lee Hsien Yang

Lee Hsien Yang claimed in a Facebook post that he has become a political refugee.

According to him, the UK has determined that he faced a ‘𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡-𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚’.

Well, Amos Yee was a political refugee too who successfully sought asylum in the US.

His supporters in Singapore were many and they included prominent activists, politicians like Kenneth Jeyaratnam and Goh Meng Seng, and academics like Donald Low and Cherian George.

Academic Donald Low even hailed Amos Yee the role model for young people, the kid who went ‘from being a victim of state persecution to seeking an independent life in a foreign country’.

US Judge Samuel Cole who granted Amos his asylum bid, released a 13-page decision saying that he faced persecution in Singapore for his political opinions.

“Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡-𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚,” Judge Coel ruled.

Do all the people who claimed that Amos was oppressed by the Singapore Government and faced state persecution still believe they were right?

What happened to Lee Hsien Yang’s son, Li Shengwu? Li Shengwu was found guilty of contempt of court. He was fined $15,000 and he paid the fine.

He had made a Facebook post that said Singapore had a pliant court system’. His post, if unchallenged, had a real risk of undermining public confidence in the administration of justice in Singapore.

What about his wife Lee Suet Fern?

She has been suspended for 15 months by the Court of Three Judges over her handling of the last will of her late father-in-law Lee Kuan Yew.

In its 98-page judgement released on 20 Nov 2020, the court, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash and Justice Woo Bih Li, said Mrs Lee had “blindly followed the directions of her husband, a significant beneficiary under the very will whose execution she helped to rush through”.

The will was signed just 16 hours after Mrs Lee first sent a draft of it to the senior Mr Lee. The court said Mrs Lee had forwarded the draft without verifying if it was the correct version.

The court said her conduct was made worse by the fact that she knew her husband was a significant beneficiary under the last will.

What about Lee Hsien Yang himself? He claimed that ‘government attacks against him are in the public record’. So are all his attacks against the government? And still he was free to come and go.

Both Lee Hsien Yang and his wife were asked by Police to assist in investigations in June 2022 by attending an interview.

“They had initially agreed but in the end did not turn up for the scheduled interview. They decided to leave Singapore on June 15, 2022, and have not returned since.

It’s funny how, when prominent people break the law or are asked to assist in investigations, they decide to run away and hide as political refugees.

Amos Yee was also a political refugee who was assessed by his host country to be facing ‘𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡-𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚’.

Different countries have different standards on freedom of speech and rights. In Singapore we value not just freedom of speech and rights, we also value truth.