‘Leaders must be able to take criticism, acknowledge mistakes’: PM Lee

[stardawn]

Something still bothers me . What cause the Lee siblings to quarrel with each other if the will of their late father was well prepared . So if the property is under LHY name why must the state get involved in a private family matter ? Shouldn't the executors of the will be allowed to carry out the final wishes of their late father ? Why must be the matter be brought to parliament to be debated ? Isn't it waste of taxpayers money ? Of course there are still more questions that need to be answered .

[skyleon]

Workers' Party concerned with allegations of abuse of power over 38 Oxley Road dispute



20 Jun 2017 06:26PM (Updated: 20 Jun 2017 06:30PM)



SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party said it is of the view that the crux of the dispute between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings over the 38 Oxley Road home should be resolved by the family privately or in court.

"We are only concerned with the allegations of abuse of power and the harm these have caused to confidence in Singapore and our political institutions," said the opposition party in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Jun 20).

As such, six WP members have filed several parliamentary questions "to help clear the air" on the allegations against PM Lee, who had invited all Members of Parliament to vigorously question him and the Cabinet on the matter when Parliament sits on Jul 3.

Among the WP's questions, the party's chairman Sylvia Lim wanted to know what rules are in place to ensure that ministers and senior public office holders with personal interests in a matter that's being deliberated by the Government do not influence or participate in the decision making process.

Specifically, on Government decisions relating to the 38 Oxley Road home, Ms Lim asked if potential conflicts of interests from among members of the Cabinet were identified.

MP Png Eng Huat wants to know what directives are in place to prevent ministers and other political appointees from "abusing their positions to access, influence and direct senior civil servants on matters beyond their professional course of work".

Non-constituency MP Daniel Goh asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth if a Deed of Gift signed in June 2015 by Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling to the National Heritage Board was protected by a confidentiality clause, and if so, how was it released to the lawyers of the Prime Minister.

His fellow NCMP Leon Perera filed a question for the Prime Minister, asking under what circumstances are ministerial committees that are not made public convened, and whether independent heritage experts would be engaged by the committee that was set up to consider options for 38 Oxley Road.

The existence of the ministerial committee on the house was confirmed by Cabinet Secretary Tan Kee Yong last Wednesday, after PM Lee's siblings first mentioned it in their statement accusing their brother of abusing his power in Government.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has said there is "nothing secret" about the commitee, and that the Government has the responsibility to consider the public interest aspects of any property with heritage and historical significance.

PM Lee said in a statement on Monday that he will refute the charges against him in a ministerial statement in Parliament on Jul 3, and has instructed that the PAP party whip be lifted to allow MPs to speak without being bound by their party's position.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...r-over-8962036

[skyleon]

Barraged by allegations, Lee vows transparency

In a rare scene of political theater in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong apologizes to the public for his family's feud

By Kirsten Han| Singapore, June 20, 2017 10:45 AM (UTC+8) 


Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong apologized to the nation on Monday evening as a family feud with his younger siblings continued to play out over social media. The rare public split between members of the country’s first family has captivated Singaporeans while raising hard questions about Lee’s style of governance.

“I deeply regret that this dispute has affected Singapore’s reputation and Singaporeans’ confidence in the government,” a solemn-faced Lee Hsien Loong said in a pre-recorded video. “As your Prime Minister, I apologize to you for this. And as the eldest of the siblings, it grieves me to think of the anguish that this would have caused our parents if they were still alive.”

The dispute between the three children of Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has dominated political discussion in the city-state ever since Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang released a public statement last Wednesday criticizing their premier brother of misusing his position of official power for personal means.

Apart from the three siblings, the feud has since drawn comments from former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam and Cabinet Secretary Tan Kee Yong, not to mention three of Lee Kuan Yew’s grandsons.

While the spat largely revolves around the question of whether to demolish or preserve the much-revered Lee Kuan Yew’s house at 38 Oxley Road, the younger Lee siblings have also made allegations of nepotism, cronyism and subversion of due process – serious charges against a government well-known for its low threshold of tolerance for any suggestion of impropriety.

FILE PHOTO: A commuter passes by a signboard bearing an image of the late first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew in a train station at the central business district in Singapore March 24, 2015. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
A signboard bearing an image of late prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su

The siblings have claimed that Lee Hsien Loong dishonored their father’s last will by attempting to preserve his former residence through a “secret committee” of ministers; that he has misused his position to obtain a “deed of gift” for the house made out to the National Heritage Board without going through proper channels; that he has installed his personal lawyer as Attorney-General; that his unelected wife, Ho Ching, exercises undue political influence; and that the first couple harbor political ambitions for their son, Li Hongyi.

Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother, has also raised concerns that he is being monitored and threatened by state agents to the degree that he has decided to leave the country in apparent self-exile.

Although many of these allegations have yet to be proven, the fact that they are coming from within Singapore’s most powerful family has drawn significant public attention and thus given them more weight.

Observers note that the Lee siblings are in a unique position to make such claims without attracting defamation suits from the famously litigious first family, though it is possible they could in future face such charges.

Lee Hsien Loong, along with his father, previously sued and won damages from the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune for mere suggestions of “dynastic politics” in Singapore.


continue reading here : http://www.atimes.com/article/barrag...-transparency/

[skyleon]

34 pertinent questions for Prime Minister Lee to answer on 3 July

By Leong Sze Hian on June 20, 2017 Current Affairs




I refer to the article “Oxley Road dispute: House debate will clear the air, say MPs and political watchers” (Straits Times, Jun 20).

The article wrote that by putting the issue under scrutiny in the House, will allow the Government to address in public the serious allegations about abuse of power that have been made by Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the younger children of the late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

PM Lee Hsien Loong in a statement yesterday, urged Members of Parliament from both sides of the House to examine the issues thoroughly and to question him and his Cabinet colleagues vigorously.

ST reported that MPs such as Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo, said they would canvass views from grassroots leaders and residents so that they can reflect them in Parliament.

“Citizens should also encourage their MPs – PAP or non-PAP – to speak on their behalf and raise tough questions,” said Mr Choo.


continue reading here : https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...wer-on-3-july/

[skyleon]

Lee Hsien Yang responds to PM Lee's statement


Lee Min Kok, The Straits Times

Jun 21, 2017 06:00 am



Mr Lee Hsien Yang yesterday asked whether his late father Lee Kuan Yew was unwavering in his wish that his house at 38, Oxley Road be demolished, in his first response to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's latest statement.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said: "We asked a simple question, that he (PM Lee) has refused to answer for a week: Was our father, Lee Kuan Yew, unwavering in his demolition wish? Yes or no?"

In a later post, he clarified that he and his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, have not interacted with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in his capacity as the chair of a ministerial committee considering options for the house.

This follows a statement issued by Mr Teo last Saturday, when he revealed the committee's members and its scope of work. Mr Teo had said he has shared some of the options being studied with the siblings.

In response, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said he and Dr Lee met Mr Teo numerous times before the committee was formed.

"During those discussions we had explored a wide range of options as well as concerns we had regarding Lee Hsien Loong and his family. DPM was always careful to preface his remarks that any views he expressed were personal views," he said.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang also denied PM Lee's assertion that he and his sister were unhappy that 38, Oxley Road, was bequeathed to their older brother.

"Wei Ling and I never had any objection to LHL receiving an equal share of the estate. We object to LHL's flip-flopping about Lee Kuan Yew's demolition wish," he said.

PM Lee has previously stated that as a son, he wants the house demolished to honour his father's wishes. He has recused himself from all government decisions concerning the house.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang did not immediately address the other points PM Lee made in the statement he issued on Monday, his first day back at work from a vacation.

In that statement and an accompanying video, PM Lee had apologised for the harm caused by the protracted and publicly aired dispute with his siblings.

He will make a ministerial statement to refute the "baseless accusations" when Parliament sits on July 3.

PM Lee said the allegations went beyond private and personal matters, extending to the conduct of his office and the integrity of the Government.


continue reading here : http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/lee...lees-statement

[skyleon]

Lee Hsien Yang reveals 2011 email from LKY saying PM Lee planned to declare house as “heritage site”

June 21, 2017

There's some very tricky wording going on here.



Jeanette Tan




The ongoing conflict between the three children of the late Lee Kuan Yew has just taken a new turn, with Lee Hsien Yang showing no signs of halting his attacks, even as his older brother PM Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday he would address any and all queries MPs might have in a July 3 Parliament sitting.

On Wednesday morning (June 21), Lee Hsien Yang drew attention to an email dated October 3, 2011, sent by the LKY, to Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching, with his three children copied in it.

The screenshot of the email, with Hsien Yang’s and Wei Ling’s email addresses redacted, reads:

Yes.

But Loong as PM has indicated that he will declare it a heritage site. That will put an end to any rebuilding.”

“LHL was copied in this email, and did not reply. LHL could have objected to this statement, but did not.”

He goes on, pointing out again a quote from a letter dated July 23, 2015, sent to him by PM Lee’s then-personal lawyer Lucien Wong:

“It is not correct that our client ever informed Mr Lee Kuan Yew, or anyone else, that the House at 38 Oxley Road (“the House”) was to be gazetted by the government as a national monument… the government had (and has) not made any decision on what, if anything, should be done with the house.”

Not the first time this email was mentioned

Now, here’s something to note — if any of you read the siblings’ initial six-page statement carefully, you might’ve recalled that they did mention their father writing this down before.

Here’s the relevant extract from their Google Drive document:

Lee Kuan Yew believed that Hsien Loong and Ho Ching were behind what was represented to the family as a government initiative to preserve the house. In due course, Hsien Loong himself made his position clear to Lee Kuan Yew. On 3October 2011, Lee Kuan Yew wrote: “Loong as PM has indicated that he will declare it a heritage site.”

Now, Hsien Yang has produced evidence that their father did indeed say the above.

However, this brings us to another point here:

Heritage/historical site ≠ National Monument

It’s important to note that Wong, PM Lee’s then-personal lawyer, used the words “gazetted by the government as a national monument”. This is completely different from what LKY wrote, which is “declare it as a heritage site”.


continue reading here : http://mothership.sg/2017/06/lee-hsi...heritage-site/

[skyleon]

'No interaction' with DPM Teo in his capacity as chair of committee on 38 Oxley Road: Lee Hsien Yang


20 Jun 2017 08:22PM (Updated: 20 Jun 2017 08:30PM)


SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Hsien Yang has denied having any interaction with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in his capacity as chair of the ministerial committee set up to consider options for the 38 Oxley Road house.

Mr Teo had said last Saturday that he tasked relevant agencies to study a range of possibilities for the house and shared some of the options with the Lee siblings.

Said DPM Teo: "They know that I would personally not support the options at either end of the range: At one end, preserving the house as it is for visitors to enter and see would be totally against the wishes of Mr and Mrs Lee Kuan Yew; and at the other, demolishing the house and putting the property on the market for new private residences."

However, Mr Lee refuted that account on Tuesday (Jun 20), saying: "Wei Ling and I wish to clarify that we have had no interaction with DPM Teo Chee Hean in his capacity as Chair of the Committee since the Committee has been formed. Neither has Lawrence Wong who was the sole point of contact given any indication of the range of options under consideration."

Writing on Facebook, Mr Lee said he and his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, had met with Mr Teo "on numerous occasions", but they were apart from and well before the formation of the committee.

"During those discussions we had explored a wide range of options as well as concerns we had regarding Lee Hsien Loong and his family," said Mr Lee Hsien Yang, adding that Mr Teo was always careful to state that any views he expressed were personal views.

Last Saturday, Mr Teo revealed that the ministerial committee looking into the future of 38 Oxley Road includes Cabinet members responsible for heritage, land issues and urban planning, namely Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, Minister for Law K Shanmugam, and Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.


He added that there is "nothing secret" about the committee, saying it was "like numerous other committees that Cabinet may set up from time to time to consider specific issues".

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...air-of-8962212

[skyleon]

PM Lee misled dad claims Lee Kuan Yew’s younger son

June 21, 2017


Mr Lee Hsien Yang who has been releasing information in a piecemeal-way since last week, has once again divulged an email correspondence of his father’s to suggest that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong misled his own father.

Mr Lee later clarified that the screenshot of the email he posted was a correspondence of his father’s in reply to Ho Ching’s request for a site survey.

“Lee Kuan Yew said yes to the site survey, but questioned why it was being done,” he said.

“LHL (Lee Hsien Loong) had intimated to Lee Kuan Yew that LHL, as PM, would gazette the house,” he added.

This is the second time Mr Lee is raising this topic. In the first joint statement he released with his sister, he said:

“Lee Kuan Yew believed that Hsien Loong and Ho Ching were behind what was represented to the family as a government initiative to preserve the house. In due course, Hsien Loong himself made his position clear to Lee Kuan Yew. On 3 October 2011, Lee Kuan Yew wrote: “Loong as PM has indicated that he will declare it a heritage site.””

Yesterday Mr Lee refuted the claims of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, head of the Ministerial Committee which is studying the Government’s options with regards to Lee Kuan Yew’s house. Mr Teo had earlier claimed that he had shared some of the options for the property with both Mr Lee and his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling.


continue reading here : http://www.theindependent.sg/pm-lee-...s-younger-son/


And so the plot widens .

[stardawn]

What we have learned so far :

1) The younger Lee siblings are the executers of their late father LKY .

2) That PM Lee is not the executor of his late father's estate.

3) That the property concerned IS under the name of LHY and not LHL .

4) That the younger Lee siblings accuse their older brother of abuse of power .

5 ) That the property concerned is still considered a private property .

6 ) That this whole matter is considered as a private family matter .

7 ) That somebody is challenging the wishes of the late LKY estate .


Is this correct ? Or am I missing something ?

[SiaSuay]

The Great Singapore Wayang Show .

[skyleon]

Lee Hsien Yang accuses Ho Ching of representing PMO despite having no official title

Published: 6:20 PM, June 22, 2017

Updated: 6:23 PM, June 22, 2017



SINGAPORE — Mr Lee Hsien Yang on Thursday (June 22) accused his sister-in-law Ho Ching of representing the Prime Minister’s Office despite having no official title when she collected some items belonging to Mr Lee Kuan Yew from his Oxley Road home while he was gravely ill in hospital.

In his latest Facebook post on the family dispute over 38 Oxley Road, Mr Lee Hsien Yang attached a picture of a document detailing the items transferred by Madam Ho, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, to the National Heritage Board.

He said that she had visited the Oxley Road home on Feb 6, 2015, a day after Singapore’s founding PM was warded in hospital.

Among the items transferred were Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s iconic “red box” and a memo from the Director of Posts, dated Feb 11, 1952, telling the Postal and Telecommunications Uniformed Staff Union that that the British government had no objection to Mr Lee representing them in their dispute with the colonial government.

Other items were a telegram from Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and a document from British lawyer John Laycock, the founder Laycock and Ong, dated April 13, 1953, where Laycock wrote that members of the firm, including Mr Lee Kuan Yew, were spending too much time on “lengthy arbitrations or commissions on wages etc which are now all the vogue”.

According to the document, most of the items were received by the National Heritage Board (NHB) on Feb 6, 2015.


continue reading here : http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...official-title

[skyleon]

38 Oxley Road dispute: Special ministerial committees ensure national interest prevails, DPM Tharman says


22 Jun 2017 05:58PM (Updated: 22 Jun 2017 06:33PM)



SINGAPORE: The practice of setting up special ministerial committees, like the one set up to consider the future of the late Lee Kuan Yew's Oxley Road home, is how the Government ensures that important issues are given in-depth attention, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Thursday (Jun 22).

In a Facebook post, Mr Tharman said the committees ensure that the Government is not one that "operates in silos" and that national interest prevails, even when there are valid private interests.

At the centre of the dispute among Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings is the removal and subsequent re-insertion of a clause in their late father's will, stating his wish that the Oxley Road house be demolished after his death.

In an opinion piece, The Straits Times' editor-at-large, Han Fook Kwang, questioned Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean's decision to set up a ministerial committee, asking if there was a need for Cabinet ministers to get involved in the dispute.

In his response, Mr Teo asserted that the Government of the day had to be responsible for making a decision on the Oxley Road property.

Echoing this, Mr Tharman said in his Facebook post on Thursday: "It’s how we ensure that important issues are given in-depth attention, and the options are weighed up by the Ministers closer to the issue, before Cabinet makes its decisions and takes collective responsibility.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...ensure-8969062

[skyleon]

Man arrested for allegedly throwing bike from flat


Charmaine Soh

Jun 23, 2017 06:00 am


A 47-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly threw a bicycle down from Block 11 Upper Boon Keng Road early yesterday morning.

In a media release yesterday, the police said officers from Bedok Police Division conducted extensive ground enquiries and arrested the man on the same day for a rash act.

It is understood that it is an ofo bike.

If convicted, the suspect can be jailed up to six months and fined up to $2,500.

The statement added that the police "take a serious view of such dangerous acts that endanger the lives of others and will take swift action against the perpetrators".

This is the latest in a spate of bike abuse incidents.

Last week, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for throwing an ofo bike from the 30th floor of an HDB block in Balestier.


continue reading here : http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/man...wing-bike-flat

[skyleon]

Lee Hsien Yang says Ho Ching 'helped herself' to Lee Kuan Yew's papers; records show she was abroad


22 Jun 2017 06:41PM (Updated: 23 Jun 2017 01:57AM)



SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Hsien Yang on Thursday (Jun 22) accused Mdm Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, of accessing some of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's documents on Feb 6, 2015 while the elder Mr Lee was "gravely ill" in hospital, even though records show she was abroad at the time.

Mdm Ho Ching had been accompanying Prime Minister Lee on a week-long official visit to Germany and Spain and was in Madrid on the date Mr Lee Hsien Yang mentioned. She returned to Singapore on Feb 7, 2015.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang had alleged in his Facebook post on Thursday: "LKY was admitted gravely ill into the ICU on Feb 5, 2015. The next day, Ho Ching helped herself to a number of LKY's papers. These she handed to the NHB (ostensibly on loan) under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office," Mr Lee wrote.

"She had no business doing this when LKY was in ICU and it is deeply troubling that someone can represent the PMO despite holding no official position."

Mr Lee later amended his post to acknowledge that Mdm Ho Ching was overseas, as pointed out by Channel NewsAsia.

The papers mentioned in the post included a letter and a telegram dating back to the 1950s. There was also a memo from the director of posts dated Feb 11, 1952, which told postal workers that the British government had no objection to Mr Lee Kuan Yew representing them in their dispute.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...-yew-s-8969176


Really how fast the official propaganda machine responded .

[skyleon]

Lee Hsien Yang sparks fresh dispute on items taken for Lee Kuan Yew memorial exhibition



23 Jun 2017 12:27AM (Updated: 23 Jun 2017 09:22AM)



SINGAPORE: A dispute between the children of late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew over his old home at Oxley Road has now widened to include items in his estate that were loaned to a memorial exhibition.


On Thursday (Jun 22), the late Mr Lee's youngest son Lee Hsien Yang claimed in a Facebook post that his brother Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife Ho Ching had “helped herself to a number of Lee Kuan Yew’s papers” on Feb 6, 2015. This was while the elder Mr Lee lay “gravely ill” in the intensive care unit, after being admitted to hospital the day before, he alleged.

He also claimed that Mdm Ho Ching did so “under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office”, calling it “deeply troubling”.

A screenshot uploaded to Facebook by Mr Lee Hsien Yang showed that the items listed were received by NHB on Feb 6, 2015.

Records show that Mdm Ho was overseas on that date, as she was accompanying PM Lee on an official visit to Spain. She returned to Singapore on Feb 7, 2015.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) late Thursday clarified that items loaned by the Prime Minister’s Office for display at the In Memoriam: Lee Kuan Yew exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore were handed over to NHB on Apr 6, 2015, well after the late Mr Lee died.

NHB said the items listed in the screenshot were received by NHB on Apr 6, 2015 instead of Feb 6, 2015. “This was a clerical error. NHB has a receipt for the items on loan from PMO dated Apr 6, 2015,” a spokesperson said.

In response, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said NHB's clarification was "even more troubling". "By LKY's will, the estate's residual items, such as personal documents, fall under the absolute discretion of the executors Wei Ling and myself," he said, referring to his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling.

"Unapproved removal of these items, even by a beneficiary, constitutes both theft and intermeddling," he said. "Ho Ching is not an executor or a beneficiary to our father's estate. We also still do not understand how she is a proper contact representative for the PMO."

The bitter spat between the Lee siblings spilled into the public domain in the wee hours of Jun 14, when Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his sister Dr Lee issued a joint statement accusing PM Lee of opposing their father's wishes to demolish the house and abusing his power to do so.

Prime Minister Lee has apologised to Singaporeans over the dispute, saying he "deeply regrets that the dispute has affected the country's reputation and Singaporeans’ confidence in the Government". He has announced that he will speak on the matter in Parliament on Jul 3, and urged all MPs to question him vigorously.

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam also elaborated on the decision to form a ministerial committee to deliberate the options for Mr Lee Kuan Yew's Oxley Road home, following accusations from Mr Lee Hsien Yang that it was "secret" and "shadowy". "It’s how we ensure that we are not a Government that operates in silos, that the national interest prevails even when there are valid sectoral or private interests, and that the long view prevails over the short view wherever possible," he stated.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...e-kuan-8969956