https://www.scmp.com/rss/324693/feed The children of Singapore's late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew - current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, neurologist Lee Wei Ling and business leader Lee Hsien Yang - are publicly fighting over his estate. At the quarrel's heart is their childhood home, 38 Oxley Road - will it be demolished, as Lee Kuan Yew stated in his will, or will Singapore's government preserve it? en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com CNA CNA The site at 38 Oxley Road was gazetted for acquisition on Thursday, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the National Heritage Board (NHB) said in a media release. This follows the gazetting of the site as a national monument on December 12, 2025. The site was the home of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. It was also where events took place that shaped the country’s independence movement and national history. “The site was gazetted for acquisition today in order to safeguard... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341629/singapore-acquire-lee-kuan-yews-38-oxley-road-home-preservation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3341629/singapore-acquire-lee-kuan-yews-38-oxley-road-home-preservation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 04:21:54 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Singapore’s government on Friday gazetted as a national monument the former home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, a site long at the centre of a bitter family dispute among his children. The action marks a pivotal moment in the saga that has gripped the city state since Lee’s death in 2015, when his children publicly clashed over whether the bungalow at 38 Oxley Road should be preserved or torn down. Lee’s oldest son, and former prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, favoured preserving the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3336284/lee-kuan-yews-38-oxley-road-home-officially-declared-singapore-national-monument?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3336284/lee-kuan-yews-38-oxley-road-home-officially-declared-singapore-national-monument?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:37:04 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau The Singapore government is not seeking to memorialise founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and family by preserving his former home and instead is enabling future generations of citizens to understand their country’s struggle for independence, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo has said. Detailing the reasons behind the government’s intention to preserve 38 Oxley Road as a national monument, Neo told parliament on Thursday that the space and its importance could not be... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331753/singapore-preserve-38-oxley-road-history-not-lee-kuan-yew-memorial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331753/singapore-preserve-38-oxley-road-history-not-lee-kuan-yew-memorial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 07:28:51 +0000 Jean Iau,Kolette Lim Jean Iau,Kolette Lim A decision on Monday by Singapore’s government to preserve as a national monument the site of the family home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is an expected outcome nearly a decade in the making, according to observers. They also say it is still too early to tell if the latest resolution marked the end of a public feud between former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and his younger brother Lee Hsien Yang, centred on whether 38 Oxley Road should be demolished. Following patriarch Lee’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3331378/singapores-38-oxley-road-will-latest-move-gazette-site-end-lee-family-feud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3331378/singapores-38-oxley-road-will-latest-move-gazette-site-end-lee-family-feud?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 13:31:44 +0000 CNA CNA The site of 38 Oxley Road was “more than just the home” of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – it was where Singapore’s independence movement took shape, a government advisory board said on Monday. The Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board assessed the site as having “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, describing it as a foundational part of Singapore’s independence that is “not represented by any other site or monument”. The site... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3331298/lee-kuan-yews-home-worthy-preservation-birthplace-singapores-independence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3331298/lee-kuan-yews-home-worthy-preservation-birthplace-singapores-independence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 06:34:03 +0000 A widely shared New York Times video on “tyranny” in four countries featuring the grandson of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has drawn the ire of the city state’s government, with its envoy to the US saying Li Shengwu is “masquerading as a persecuted dissident”. The opinion video, titled How Tyranny Begins, was circulated on social media platforms and forums soon after its publication last Wednesday. Besides Li, the nephew of Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3296482/singapore-slams-li-shengwu-over-new-york-times-how-tyranny-begins-video?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3296482/singapore-slams-li-shengwu-over-new-york-times-how-tyranny-begins-video?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 11:36:27 +0000 People’s Action Party (PAP) secretary general Lee Hsien Loong is set to step down as its leader, as tributes poured in on Saturday as part of the ruling party’s 70th anniversary celebrations. Senior Minister Lee handed over the prime minister position to his successor Lawrence Wong in May this year. Lee is expected to step down as secretary general on Sunday, paving the way for Wong to take over this mantle as well. At this year’s biennial PAP awards and conference, which will take place over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3287868/lee-hsien-loong-step-down-pap-secretary-general-after-20-years-helm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3287868/lee-hsien-loong-step-down-pap-secretary-general-after-20-years-helm?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:22:31 +0000 More than half of Singaporeans polled in a recent survey support the demolition of 38 Oxley Road, but most respondents feel the controversy surrounding the family home of the country’s first prime minister should be a private matter and not a national issue. The latest findings from a small pool of 200 respondents interviewed by market and social research agency Black Dot Research mark one of a few reference points for public views on a years-long feud between former prime minister Lee Hsien... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3285325/singapore-survey-offers-rare-gauge-public-views-38-oxley-road-demolish-or-keep?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3285325/singapore-survey-offers-rare-gauge-public-views-38-oxley-road-demolish-or-keep?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:11:12 +0000 Singapore has become much more repressive, and corruption in the Asian financial hub has worsened in the decade since the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, according to his youngest son, who fled to Britain to seek asylum from what he described as a campaign of persecution to silence him. Lee Hsien Yang, who has been granted political refugee status in the UK, said that Singaporean authorities have “weaponised” the country’s laws against critics and that he is just the most prominent... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3284632/lee-kuan-yews-son-claims-singapore-authorities-weaponised-laws-against-critics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3284632/lee-kuan-yews-son-claims-singapore-authorities-weaponised-laws-against-critics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:21:08 +0000 Located in the heart of Singapore’s bustling shopping district, the late Lee Kuan Yew’s residence at 38 Oxley Road is at the centre of a re-emerged public feud between his sons over its demolition or preservation. The Lee children have been estranged over the property since 2017, with Lee Hsien Yang, 67, and his late sister Lee Wei Ling accusing eldest brother and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, 72, of abusing his power to preserve the house against their father’s wishes, to retain... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3283951/amid-38-oxley-road-debate-look-how-asia-has-preserved-some-its-leaders-homes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3283951/amid-38-oxley-road-debate-look-how-asia-has-preserved-some-its-leaders-homes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Oct 2024 02:00:17 +0000 The Singapore government on Friday night hit back at Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of the country’s former prime minister and younger son of the modern city state’s founder, saying he had created a “false picture” of urgency for their family home to be demolished. Lee had earlier in the day called on current Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to take “responsibility” in deciding on the fate of the family home of the country’s most powerful political clan. Local media reported in the evening... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283936/lee-hsien-yang-creating-false-urgency-38-oxley-road-demolition-singapore-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283936/lee-hsien-yang-creating-false-urgency-38-oxley-road-demolition-singapore-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:24:19 +0000 In being granted asylum in the UK, Lee Hsien Yang, the younger son of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, joins the ranks of other political dissidents from the city state who took up such a status abroad out of fear of persecution. Lee Hsien Yang, 67, is the estranged brother of former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, 72. The younger Lee brother and his late sister Lee Wei Ling in 2017 made public their feud with their oldest sibling over the fate of 38 Oxley Road, their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283721/leaving-singapore-look-lee-hsien-yang-and-6-others-who-chose-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283721/leaving-singapore-look-lee-hsien-yang-and-6-others-who-chose-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2024 11:24:15 +0000 Singapore will conduct a heritage study on 38 Oxley Road, the former family home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, to assess if the site should be preserved. The home has been at the centre of a long-running dispute among Lee’s children, with the younger two, Lee Hsien Yang and the late Lee Wei Ling, making public their conflicting views with their older brother and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2017. The brothers have been estranged since. Announcing on Thursday, Singapore’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283637/singapore-weighs-preserving-38-oxley-road-despite-lee-hsien-yangs-demolition-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283637/singapore-weighs-preserving-38-oxley-road-despite-lee-hsien-yangs-demolition-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2024 05:39:36 +0000 Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, has said that he is a “political refugee from Singapore” under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and that he has received asylum status in the UK. The two sons of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew have been estranged since Lee Hsien Yang, 67, the younger of the brothers, and his late sister Lee Wei Ling made public a conflict with their older brother in 2017, alleging the then prime minister was misusing his power to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283360/lee-hsien-yang-says-he-political-refugee-singapore-sought-uk-asylum-status?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283360/lee-hsien-yang-says-he-political-refugee-singapore-sought-uk-asylum-status?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 07:06:15 +0000 The estranged brother of Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has revealed he will apply to demolish their family home to “honour my parents’ last wishes”, potentially reigniting a long-running feud between the Lee siblings a week after the death of sister Lee Wei Ling. Lee Hsien Yang on Tuesday morning said on Facebook he intended to build a small private dwelling in place of the family bungalow at 38 Oxley Road, which will be “held within the family in perpetuity”. “I am the sole... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3282450/singapores-lee-hsien-yang-apply-demolish-oxley-road-home-honour-my-parents-wishes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3282450/singapores-lee-hsien-yang-apply-demolish-oxley-road-home-honour-my-parents-wishes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Oct 2024 09:06:12 +0000 The Singapore Police Force said on Friday former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother and his wife are free to return to the city state. While Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Suet Fern left Singapore in 2022 after deciding not to attend a scheduled police interview, there are no barriers preventing them from returning to the country. “In response to media queries, the police confirm that there are no legal restraints to Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern returning to Singapore. They are... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281986/lee-hsien-yang-and-wife-always-free-return-singapore-police-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281986/lee-hsien-yang-and-wife-always-free-return-singapore-police-say?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Oct 2024 06:47:58 +0000 Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday night attended the wake of his sister Lee Wei Ling. Senior Minister Lee, 72, had been on the opposite side of a public row with his younger sister and brother Lee Hsien Yang over what to do with their family home at 38 Oxley Road. The minister, dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt, arrived at the wake with his wife Ho Ching, 71, and son Li Hongyi, 37, at about 8.25pm. They did not stop to speak to the media. They left from the back... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3281767/lee-hsien-yang-estranged-brother-ex-singapore-pm-renews-call-demolish-family-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3281767/lee-hsien-yang-estranged-brother-ex-singapore-pm-renews-call-demolish-family-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2024 23:32:47 +0000 Lee Wei Ling, the daughter of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, died at home on Wednesday morning at the age of 69. She was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare and degenerative brain disease, in 2020. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said of his younger sister: “She was fiercely loyal to friends, sympathised instinctively with the underdog, and would mobilise actively to do something when she saw unfairness, or suspected wrongdoing.... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281624/lee-kuan-yews-daughter-lee-wei-ling-dies-69-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3281624/lee-kuan-yews-daughter-lee-wei-ling-dies-69-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:25:25 +0000 Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Law Minister K. Shanmugam have sharply refuted assertions by Lee Hsien Yang, the son of founding father Lee Kuan Yew, linking a defamation case to the legacy of his late father and the city state’s first prime minister. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Lee, the estranged younger brother of former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, revealed he paid S$619,335.53 (US$481,644) in damages to the two ministers in what he claimed was to honour his father’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3280661/singapore-ministers-slam-lee-hsien-yangs-rich-claim-linking-lee-kuan-yew-suit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3280661/singapore-ministers-slam-lee-hsien-yangs-rich-claim-linking-lee-kuan-yew-suit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2024 06:28:42 +0000 The estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has paid two senior ministers who sued him for defamation. Lee Hsien Yang paid a total of S$619,335.53 (US$481,034) to Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, according to a Facebook post on Sunday. Lee wrote that the amount was “equivalent to 13.6 months” worth of rent for two houses on Ridout Road at the centre of a controversy last year. The amount included damages, costs and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3280463/lee-hsien-loongs-brother-pays-nearly-us500000-singapore-ministers-defamation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3280463/lee-hsien-loongs-brother-pays-nearly-us500000-singapore-ministers-defamation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Sep 2024 00:47:23 +0000 In his first major policy address as Singapore’s prime minister in 2004, a 52-year-old Lee Hsien Loong launched into a three-hour speech by opening with the questions: “What would the new PM be like? Would he be his own man? What mark would he put on Singapore?” It was a significant soliloquy of sorts, but delivered in front of the country’s elites, including his father Lee Kuan Yew. The younger Lee noted such questions had arisen when his predecessor Goh Chok Tong became the young nation’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3262672/shadow-lee-kuan-yew-what-legacy-will-singapores-lee-hsien-loong-leave-behind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3262672/shadow-lee-kuan-yew-what-legacy-will-singapores-lee-hsien-loong-leave-behind?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 May 2024 11:33:40 +0000 A Singapore court on Monday ordered the prime minister’s estranged brother to pay damages to two cabinet ministers over a Facebook post they said was defamatory. Lee Hsien Yang’s post related to a controversy over the rental of sprawling colonial bungalows by the Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who have both been cleared of any wrongdoing following two investigations. The allegations he made that the two ministers were given... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3243009/singapore-court-orders-pms-estranged-brother-pay-damages-ministers-shanmugam-balakrishnan-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3243009/singapore-court-orders-pms-estranged-brother-pay-damages-ministers-shanmugam-balakrishnan-over?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Nov 2023 22:00:30 +0000 September 16, 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore. It also marks the 60th anniversary of the Federation of Malaysia. In addition to Malaysian leaders such as Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak, Lee, Goh Keng Swee and Eddie Barker were the key leaders from Singapore who played active roles in the separation of Singapore from the federation. As an independent country, Singapore overcame various challenges to become a flourishing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234650/singapore-can-pursue-ai-solution-preserving-lee-kuan-yews-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234650/singapore-can-pursue-ai-solution-preserving-lee-kuan-yews-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:30:13 +0000 Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have sued Lee Hsien Yang for defamation over allegations relating to their rental of two black-and-white bungalows at Ridout Road. The case conference will take place on Tuesday at 9am, according to a hearing list on the Singapore Courts’ website. The two ministers are represented by a team from Davinder Singh Chambers. Shanmugam and Balakrishnan had sent lawyers’ letters to Lee in July, saying... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3233237/singapores-k-shanmugam-vivian-balakrishnan-sue-lee-hsien-yang-defamation-over-ridout-rental?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3233237/singapores-k-shanmugam-vivian-balakrishnan-sue-lee-hsien-yang-defamation-over-ridout-rental?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Sep 2023 04:07:57 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3229141/singapores-k-shanmugam-vivian-balakrishnan-demand-apology-lee-hsien-yang-defaming-them-over-rental?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3229141/singapores-k-shanmugam-vivian-balakrishnan-demand-apology-lee-hsien-yang-defaming-them-over-rental?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:16:50 +0000 Singapore authorities have invoked the country’s fake news law against the prime minister’s estranged younger brother Lee Hsien Yang for a Facebook post in which he criticised the ruling party for its recent spate of political scandals. This marked the sixth time the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (Pofma) had been invoked within a span of 10 days, targeting online comments about the various sagas involving the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) led by Prime Minister... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3228864/singapore-invokes-fake-news-law-against-lee-hsien-yang-over-facebook-post-political-scandals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3228864/singapore-invokes-fake-news-law-against-lee-hsien-yang-over-facebook-post-political-scandals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jul 2023 10:35:10 +0000 Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother and his wife have “essentially absconded” from the city state amid a police probe for perjury, authorities have said. The new details revealed by the Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam, and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) come as the case involving Lee Hsien Yang and his lawyer wife Lee Suet Fern, and the long-running feud within the country’s most prominent political family remain hotly discussed on social media. Observers... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214331/singapores-lee-family-feud-lee-hsien-yang-wife-must-choose-between-fugitive-status-and-returning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214331/singapores-lee-family-feud-lee-hsien-yang-wife-must-choose-between-fugitive-status-and-returning?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Mar 2023 12:06:36 +0000 Singapore’s former foreign minister George Yeo once again said he will not contest the country’s coming presidential election, amid lingering speculation that he is eyeing the largely ceremonial role despite repeated denials. The bar for the presidential poll is high and Yeo, a former stalwart of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), has been seen by some observers as among a handful of establishment-friendly individuals eligible to run in the contest. Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3212996/my-answer-no-singapores-george-yeo-rules-out-presidential-run?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3212996/my-answer-no-singapores-george-yeo-rules-out-presidential-run?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Mar 2023 14:03:30 +0000 The estranged younger brother of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has effectively self-exiled in Europe and is “unlikely to return to Singapore” due to fear of political persecution. Lee Hsien Yang said during a phone interview that he has been considering running in the presidential election that is to take place by September. But the younger son of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew alluded to being close to giving up on contesting the coming election due to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3212831/singapore-pm-lees-estranged-brother-remain-self-exiled-europe-fears-persecution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3212831/singapore-pm-lees-estranged-brother-remain-self-exiled-europe-fears-persecution?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:56:03 +0000 The estranged younger brother of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is considering a run for the largely ceremonial role of president this year, a sign that an ongoing family feud could start to overshadow the city state’s politics. Lee Hsien Yang, 65, spoke about his plans after the government revealed an ongoing police investigation against him and his wife over the handling of the last will of his father Lee Kuan Yew, who founded modern Singapore. “There is a view that depending on who... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3212277/singapore-pms-estranged-brother-weighs-running-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3212277/singapore-pms-estranged-brother-weighs-running-president?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Mar 2023 10:31:18 +0000 The estranged younger brother of Singapore’s current prime minister, Lee Hsien Yang, and his wife, are being investigated for giving false evidence in judicial proceedings over Singapore’s late independence leader Lee Kuan Yew. The three children of Lee Kuan Yew have been embroiled in a public feud over their late father’s legacy since 2017, with eldest son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on one side, and Lee Hsien Yang and sister Lee Wei Ling on the other. The revelation regarding the police... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3212119/singapores-lee-family-feud-lee-hsien-yang-and-wife-lee-suet-fern-face-perjury-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3212119/singapores-lee-family-feud-lee-hsien-yang-and-wife-lee-suet-fern-face-perjury-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Mar 2023 11:31:57 +0000 The estranged younger brother of Singapore’s prime minister is selling his resort-style home amid a surge in demand for luxury properties in the city state. The two-story bungalow, a local term for the equivalent of a mansion, is on sale for S$16.8 million (US$12.4 million), according to a listing on the real estate portal PropertyGuru. Public records show Lee Hsien Yang, brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and his wife as joint owners. The couple currently live in a flat in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3151343/singapores-lee-hsien-yang-selling-resort-style-home-us12?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3151343/singapores-lee-hsien-yang-selling-resort-style-home-us12?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Oct 2021 05:42:53 +0000 Singapore’s high court ordered two bloggers to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a combined S$210,000 (US$156,000) in damages on Wednesday, over an article about the home of his late father and the city state’s modern-day founder, Lee Kuan Yew. The premier sued writer Rubaashini Shunmuganathan and editor Xu Yuan Chen, also known as Terry Xu, over an August 2019 article on news website The Online Citizen (TOC) that included references to a Lee family disagreement about what to do with the late... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3147146/singapore-pm-awarded-us275000-defamation-suit-against-news?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3147146/singapore-pm-awarded-us275000-defamation-suit-against-news?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Sep 2021 07:37:12 +0000 Singapore’s former prime minister Goh Chok Tong has urged citizens to give space to the younger ministers of the ruling People’s Action Party as they pick a new leader among themselves following the “hiccup” of the country’s prime-minister-in-waiting stepping aside. Goh said the process, which will in effect determine who will succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was not just an “internal PAP problem” but a national issue. “This is an important decision for Singapore,” said Goh, who led the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3132717/give-singapores-4g-ministers-space-pick-new-leader-says-former?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3132717/give-singapores-4g-ministers-space-pick-new-leader-says-former?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 May 2021 14:14:36 +0000 A Singapore court has ordered an opposition politician to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 (US$99,000) in damages for defamation in one of two recent libel suits launched by the island nation’s premier over online comments about him. While the leaders of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) – including Lee and his late father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – have in the past launched libel suits or settled out of court with foreign news outlets, Leong Sze Hian is only... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126769/singapore-opposition-politician-ordered-pay-pm-lee-hsien-loong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3126769/singapore-opposition-politician-ordered-pay-pm-lee-hsien-loong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:42:07 +0000 I refer to Sir David Lewis’ letter “What I know about Singapore’s Lee Suet Fern” (November 30). Mrs Lee Suet Fern was found guilty of professional misconduct beyond a reasonable doubt by the highest court overseeing disciplinary proceedings of lawyers in Singapore, presided over by the Chief Justice. The Law Society of Singapore discharged its statutory duties of self-regulation conscientiously and fairly. Prosecution is not persecution. The reserved judgment of the Court of Three Judges... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3113212/singapore-court-verdict-lee-suet-fern-relied-carefully-evaluated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3113212/singapore-court-verdict-lee-suet-fern-relied-carefully-evaluated?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Dec 2020 23:30:14 +0000 While his relationship with his siblings is “not in the best state” and “animosity is evident” on their end, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he and his wife Ho Ching do not want the family feud to continue. “I hope against hope that one day, matters can be repaired. But it’s one of those things that happen in life and this too shall pass,” he said on Monday during the first day of his defamation trial. Lee is suing Terry Xu, the chief editor of sociopolitical website The Online... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3111969/singapore-pm-lee-hsien-loong-tells-toc-defamation-trial-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3111969/singapore-pm-lee-hsien-loong-tells-toc-defamation-trial-he?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:53:02 +0000 I have been very disturbed to read in the Post of the Singapore Law Society’s failed attempt to disbar Lee Suet Fern. She is the daughter-in-law of the late Lee Kuan Yew, the former Singapore prime minister who died in 2015, and married to his younger son. He and another sibling have fallen out very publicly with their brother, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over the last will of Lee Kuan Yew made in 2013, probate for which was granted in 2015. Lee Suet Fern is alleged to have assisted... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3111620/what-i-know-about-lee-suet-fern?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3111620/what-i-know-about-lee-suet-fern?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Nov 2020 03:33:45 +0000 Lee Suet Fern, the daughter-in-law of Singapore’s late independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, was on Friday handed a 15-month suspension of her licence to practice law in a legal misconduct case that was among the key issues in the political clan’s bitter public feud. The ruling by the Court of Three Judges, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, is final and cannot be further appealed. The case was referred to the judges in February after a disciplinary panel found the corporate lawyer guilty of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3110648/lee-family-feud-singapore-court-suspends-lee-suet-fern-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3110648/lee-family-feud-singapore-court-suspends-lee-suet-fern-over?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Nov 2020 04:30:46 +0000 More voters want political pluralism after some 60 years of one-party rule, according to a survey conducted by a Singapore think tank after the July general election, which saw the highest number of opposition politicians elected since independence. The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) found that respondents who could be described as “Conservative” – those who disagreed that political pluralism was valuable and Singapore’s electoral system should change to make that happen – fell to 18.5 per... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103871/more-singaporeans-want-political-diversity-after-60-years-pap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103871/more-singaporeans-want-political-diversity-after-60-years-pap?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Oct 2020 13:30:21 +0000 A special panel of senior Singapore judges on Thursday heard arguments in the legal misconduct case against the daughter-in-law of the country’s late independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, in a matter that is seen as a key issue in the bitter public quarrel among the late patriarch’s heirs. The Court of Three Judges, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, was convened to hear an appeal lodged by Lee Suet Fern, the wife of Lee Kuan Yew’s youngest child Lee Hsien Yang, following a disciplinary... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3097273/lee-family-feud-lee-suet-ferns-legal-misconduct-case-goes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3097273/lee-family-feud-lee-suet-ferns-legal-misconduct-case-goes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Aug 2020 12:30:52 +0000 The grandson of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and nephew of the current prime minister said on Tuesday he will pay a fine for a Facebook post that questioned the independence of the city’s judiciary. Li Shengwu, an academic at Harvard University and based in the United States, was ordered to pay a S$15,000 (US$10,900) fine or serve a week in jail by the High Court last month over the 2017 post in which he described the Singapore government as “very litigious and has a pliant court... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3096875/singapore-pms-nephew-li-shengwu-pay-contempt-court-fine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3096875/singapore-pms-nephew-li-shengwu-pay-contempt-court-fine?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Aug 2020 06:00:28 +0000 The nephew of Singapore’s current prime minister was convicted on Wednesday of contempt of court over a Facebook post criticising the judiciary during a bitter family feud. Li Shengwu, an academic at Harvard University, was also fined S$15,000 (US$10,880) by the High Court over the 2017 post in which he described the Singapore government as “very litigious and has a pliant court system”. He will have to serve a week’s jail if he does not pay the amount in two weeks, Justice Kannan Ramesh said in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3095104/singapore-pms-nephew-li-shengwu-found-guilty-contempt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3095104/singapore-pms-nephew-li-shengwu-found-guilty-contempt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2020 04:33:44 +0000 Singapore’s nine-day general election campaign comes to an end on Wednesday. At midnight, all 192 candidates must suspend campaign activities to comply with a day-long “cooling off” period before voters make their choice on Friday. Going into the contest, some observers had predicted the hustings would be sedate, given the ban on mass rallies and restrictions on other physical political events because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the campaigning has been far from that, as the long-ruling... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092307/singapore-election-six-twists-campaign-peoples-action-party-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092307/singapore-election-six-twists-campaign-peoples-action-party-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jul 2020 07:44:51 +0000 Indonesian politician Rachmawati Sukarnoputri, 69, comes from a family of two presidents. Her father, Sukarno, fought for the country’s independence from Dutch rule, and was in office from 1945 to 1967. Her older sister Megawati Sukarnoputri, 73, who leads the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), was president from 2001 to 2004. But blood does not always bind siblings in politics. Rachmawati is known as a staunch critic of her sister. During last year’s bruising legislative and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092218/singapore-thailand-why-are-political-sibling-rivalries-such-huge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092218/singapore-thailand-why-are-political-sibling-rivalries-such-huge?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jul 2020 12:23:36 +0000 The estranged brother of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made waves when he joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party last month. While he stopped short of contesting the July 10 poll, Lee Hsien Yang’s political foray signifies a shift in the family’s public squabble – from the feud over the house of their father and founding premier Lee Kuan Yew, to governance under the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) led by his elder brother. The feud has spilled over into other conflicts... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3092211/singapore-election-pms-brother-lee-hsien-yang-says-pap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3092211/singapore-election-pms-brother-lee-hsien-yang-says-pap?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jul 2020 12:00:18 +0000 During my 18 years living and working in mainland China, people who discovered I was Singaporean would usually respond with one of the following remarks: • Singapore is efficient and corruption-free – usually said with a note of envy. • Singapore is what it is today because of former leader Lee Kuan Yew. • Singapore is run by the Lee family. • Singapore is predominantly ethnic Chinese. • Lee Kuan Yew was an admirable and amazing leader – a few would even go on to add, “if only China had an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091833/chinese-social-media-singapore-elections-amuse-and-confuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091833/chinese-social-media-singapore-elections-amuse-and-confuse?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jul 2020 01:00:19 +0000 The nomination process for Singapore’s July 10 general election closed on Tuesday with 192 candidates filing their papers to contest the 93 parliamentary seats. For the second consecutive election – and only the second time since the country’s independence – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) will face opponents in all seats. Many political observers expect the ruling party to comfortably extend its uninterrupted rule of Singapore that stretches back to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091149/singapore-election-parties-taking-pap-july-10?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091149/singapore-election-parties-taking-pap-july-10?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jun 2020 07:59:25 +0000 Campaigning for Singapore’s pandemic-plagued July 10 general election officially began on Tuesday with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pitted against not just the country’s small opposition players but his estranged brother Lee Hsien Yang as well. But despite an initial buzz of excitement – with Lee Hsien Yang seen at a coffee shop near a nomination centre for the district of Tanjong Pagar, the constituency once helmed by the siblings’ late father Lee... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091138/singapore-pms-estranged-brother-wont-contest-july-10-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3091138/singapore-pms-estranged-brother-wont-contest-july-10-election?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jun 2020 03:52:13 +0000 A public rift between the heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s modern day founder, has shot to the fore with the prospect of his two sons squaring off at a July 10 general election. Lee Hsien Yang on Wednesday formally joined a new opposition party competing against his brother Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party, which has ruled the city state since its independence since 1965. The move comes amid a long-standing and bitter dispute between the siblings centred around what to do with their... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3090391/whats-behind-singapore-first-familys-public-feud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3090391/whats-behind-singapore-first-familys-public-feud?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jun 2020 08:00:16 +0000