Siblings of Singapore PM fear for their safety, accusing him of harassment and trashing Lee Kuan Yew’s values

An open feud among the family of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong deepened on Wednesday after the premier’s two younger siblings said they feared for their safety because they felt their elder brother was using state organs to harass them.

The premier immediately fired back, slamming his siblings for issuing a statement “publicising private family matters”. The Lees are the children of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s revered founding prime minister who died aged 91 in 2015 after a political career spanning over five decades.

The two younger siblings Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling in their online statement early Wednesday had said the harassment they were facing was so grave that “Hsien Yang feels compelled to leave Singapore”.

“Since the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, on 23 March 2015, we have felt threatened by Hsien Loong’s misuse of his position and influence over the Singapore government and its agencies to drive his personal agenda,” the two younger siblings said in a Facebook statement.

“We feel big brother omnipresent. We fear the use of the organs of state against us and Hsien Yang’s wife, Suet Fern,” they said in the six-page statement. It was titled “What has happened to Lee Kuan Yew’s values?” They added: “We feel hugely uncomfortable and closely monitored in our own country. We do not trust Hsien Loong as a brother or as a leader. We have lost confidence in him.”

Lee Wei Ling is a top neurologist, while her brother, Lee Hsien Yang, is a former military general who has held various corporate portfolios including a 12-year stint as chief executive of SingTel. He is currently chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

The premier said he was “deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations that they have made.”