Singapore’s K. Shanmugam, Vivian Balakrishnan demand apology from Lee Hsien Yang for ‘defaming’ them over rental saga

PM Lee’s brother, currently in self-exile overseas, had made comments on Facebook about a saga surrounding the rental of colonial-era bungalows by the ministers
Shanmugam and Balakrishnan had undergone separate anti-graft probes, which found no wrongdoing in with their respective leases of the houses

Singapore

Bhavan Jaipragas

Published: 7:16pm, 27 Jul 2023

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Two Singapore veteran ministers, who were recently cleared of corruption over their rental of state-owned colonial bungalows, have threatened to sue the prime minister’s estranged brother Lee Hsien Yang over his comments about the saga.

Separate investigations by the country’s anti-corruption agency and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s senior political lieutenant had in June found that Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, and the Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, had committed no wrongdoing with their respective leases of the so-called black and white bungalows.

Lee Hsien Yang, currently in self-exile overseas following a years-long dispute with his brother, last Sunday had made some comments on Facebook about the rentals as part of a post eviscerating his brother’s leadership following a series of scandals within the ruling People’s Action Party.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (left) and Law Minister K. Shanmugam are seen in this composite picture. Photo: dpa, SCMP

Authorities then served a correction direction under the country’s fake news law, citing three falsehoods in the post – including one about the bungalow rentals. Lee abided by the order to put a correction notice, but in a subsequent post said he stood by what he said.

On Thursday, Shanmugam and Balakrishnan posted similar messages on Facebook, saying they had sent Lee Hsien Yang lawyers letters “for defaming us”.

“Lee Hsien Yang has accused us of acting corruptly and for personal gain by having Singapore Land Authority give us preferential treatment by illegally felling trees without approval, and also having SLA pay for renovations to 26 and 31 Ridout Road,” their posts said.

“These allegations are false. We have asked him to apologise, withdraw his allegations and pay damages, which we will donate to charity,” the two ministers said. “If he does not do so, we will sue him.”

Singapore PM Lee says ministers retain his ‘full confidence’ after rental probe

When contacted by This Week in Asia, Lee Hsien Yang – the youngest son of Singapore’s independence leader Lee Kuan Yew – said he had just seen the ministers’ post.

The former army brigadier general and his sister, Lee Wei Ling, have been embroiled in a public feud with Prime Minister Lee since 2017 over the future of the 19th-century bungalow that their father Lee Kuan Yew called home from the 1940s until his death at age 91 in 2015.

Lee Hsien Yang’s wife Lee Suet Fern, a prominent lawyer, was suspended from practising law in Singapore for 15 months in 2020 over professional misconduct linked to the drafting of Lee Kuan Yew’s final will.

Shanmugam in March said the couple had “essentially absconded” from Singapore after failing to show up for a police interview related to a probe on whether they committed perjury in the legal proceedings that led to the suspension of Lee Suet Fern’s licence to practice law.

Their eldest son Li Shengwu, a high-flying economics professor at Harvard University, in 2020 was fined S$15,000 for contempt of court over a 2017 Facebook post linked to the family dispute.