Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his family are in the process of leaving the country out of fear that his brother, Lee Hsien Loong who is the current Prime Minister of Singapore will use the state organs against him and his wife.
Children of late Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang have earlier issued a public statement in the early morning of Wednesday expressing their non confidence in their brother and their worry about Singapore’s future in his hands.
They also mentioned that they felt threatened by PM Lee’s misuse of his position and influence over the Singapore government to drive his personal agenda.
“We are concerned that the system has few checks and balances to prevent the abuse of government. We feel big brother omnipresent. We fear the use of the organs of state against us and Hsien Yang’s wife, Suet Fern.” wrote the two in the published statement.
The two also wrote, “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.”
Late Lee Kuan Yew had served as the founding Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 , passing the baton to former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1990 with PM Lee succeeding as Prime Minister in December 2004.
PM Lee in his response, wrote that he is deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations that his siblings have made. He further added that he and his wife deny the allegations made against his family, especially the claim that he has political ambitions for his son, Li Hong Yi.
Straits Times reported that they caught Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Mrs Lee Suet Fern at her home in the morning just before she left for office, and quoted her saying that she and her husband were in the process of preparing to leave the country, however, declined to say when they would be leaving, or where they would be going.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore was also quoted by Financial Times,
“I am not an anti-establishment, opposition figure. I have a long record of public service. It is heart wrenching for me to leave this country. It is not something I would do lightly.”
“I have no desire to leave. Hsien Loong is the only reason for my departure,” he said, implying that he is being forced to leave the country out of the potential risk faced by his family.
Dr Li Shengwu, the eldest son of Mr Lee Hsien Yang affirms in his Facebook post, the perceived threat that his family faces.
“I generally avoid commenting on Singapore politics, but this is an exception. In the last few years, my immediate family has become increasingly worried about the lack of checks on abuse of power. The situation is now such that my parents have made plans to relocate to another country, a painful decision that they have not made lightly.”
