Thursday, October 24, 2024

A very peculiar scandal, Singapore style

If you read the BBC report, it sounds as if the brother of the last Singaporean PM (who resigned not so long ago, and both being sons of the famed Singaporean founder Lee Kuan Yew) has been hard done by - with the British government even giving him "asylum".    

The trouble all stems from shenanigans around their father's wishes:

The Lees' years-long dispute over their family home began with the death of Lee Kuan Yew, the country's first prime minister and widely considered the architect of modern Singapore.

It centres on 38 Oxley Road, a small and nondescript house sitting on a quiet street in Singapore's downtown that is estimated to be worth tens of millions of Singapore dollars.

The statesman, who was famously averse to the idea of a cult of personality built around him, had stated in his will that he wanted his house to be demolished either after his death or after his daughter moved out of the home.

Lee Hsien Loong, who was prime minister at the time, said the house would be preserved for the time being, while his siblings insisted it should be knocked down immediately in accordance to their father's wishes.

Following his sister's death earlier this month from a brain disease, Lee Hsien Yang has now applied for the demolition of the house and, in its place, the construction of a "small private dwelling" that would be owned by the Lee family.

 But if you go over to the (admittedly, government run) CNA website, you get much more detail:

 In 2020, Mrs Lee [wife of the brother who has asylum] was suspended from practice by the Court of Three Judges for 15 months after she was found guilty of misconduct over the handling of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will.

In its response to The Guardian, the Singapore government said the Court of Three Judges, led by the Chief Justice, found that the couple had cut off the late Mr Lee’s own long-time lawyer in preparing the last will. They had procured the execution of the last will with "unseemly haste (that) can only be described as improper and unacceptable", the judgment read.

The judges also found that Mrs Lee had "acted with complete disregard for the interests" of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and had "blindly followed the directions of her husband, a significant beneficiary under the very will whose execution she helped to rush through".

In view of these findings, the police started investigations against the couple for potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings. Although they initially said they agreed to be interviewed, they did not show up and left the country.

 There's even more detail here:

Somehow, I don't think the brother in exile is really going to win the PR war over this.   (I also think his brother, as PM, was very popular.)


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