After being found by the Court and Disciplinary Tribunal to have misled his father, Lee Hsien Yang, a major beneficiary of the Singapore system, has decided to turn his personal vendetta into an international smear campaign against his father, his family and his country, the Singapore Government said in response to AP.
It appears that in his asylum application in the UK, he argued that he and his family are being persecuted by the Singapore government to prevent his son, Li Shengwu, from being Prime Minister.
The Financial Times reports (22 Oct):
“In seeking political asylum in Britain, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Suet Fern are understood to have successfully argued that their brother Lee Hsien Loong has used the organs of state against their wing of the family to block any chance that their son, Li Shengwu, might enter politics in Singapore and one day rise to the position of prime minister.”
This was despite the fact that his son, Li Shengwu had repeatedly said that he had no interest in politics.
In 2017, Shengwu told the AFP:
“Not only do I intend never to go into politics, I believe it would be bad for Singapore if any third generation Lee went into politics.”
In another interview:
“No, I’d be a very bad politician if I participated in politics. I totally don’t fit.”
That he would make such an allegation against the Singapore Government when his son has repeatedly said he had no intention to participate in politics shows that his campaign against Singapore is not based on principles, the Singapore Government said in its statement.
Has corruption in Singapore worsened?
In the article published by the AP, Lee Hsien Yang claimed that corruption in Singapore has worsened in the decade since the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Yet, the fact is that Singapore has improved in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index since Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death.
When Mr Lee was still alive in 2015, Singapore was ranked 7th in the 2015 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index and 3rd 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 5th and 3rd on these indices respectively.
Singapore is ranked the least corrupt country in the 2024 Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Report on Perceptions of Corruption in Asia, the US and Australia.
Our system is consistent with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, the Singapore Government said in its response to AP.
In 2024, Singapore ranked fourth in the Global Financial Centres Index 2024, after New York, London, and Hong Kong.
Firm action against those who break the laws
Singapore has always acted firmly and decisively against those who break our laws, the statement said.
Indeed, recently, former Minister Iswaran was sentenced to a year in prison 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, said the statement.
“Just as Mr Lee Kuan Yew acted when he was Prime Minister, neither Mr Lee Hsien Loong nor his successor Mr Lawrence Wong prevented their former colleague from being investigated, prosecuted and convicted,” the statement added.
No one is above the law
Surely Lee Hsien Yang must expect that he is not above the law.
He and his wife, Lee Suet Fern were found by both the Disciplinary Tribunal and the Court to have misled their father.
You can read it here:
How Mr Lee Kuan Yew came to sign the Last Will he thought was the First Will
Both lied on oath during the hearings.
In view of the findings by the Disciplinary Tribunal as well as the Court of Three Judges, the police commenced investigations on Lee Hsien Yang and his wife for potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings.
The police approached the couple on 9 June 2022. They left Singapore on 15 June, after confirming with the police on 13 June that they would be interviewed on 13 July.
On 13 July, they did not turn up for their interview, and informed the police by email that they will not participate in the investigation.
