Like mother, like son. Apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to fashion in the Lee family. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s son, Li Hongyi made an appearance at the State Courts wearing a pair of slippers recently, channelling his mother Ho Ching who was spotted not long ago wearing open-toed sandals to formal, official functions.
While giving a presentation on data science, AI, and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) earlier this month, Hongyi decided to show up in a part of dark jeans, what looks like a worn out t-shirt, and a pair of flip flops.
The image of Hongyi, who is currently the Deputy Director of Product Engineering at GovTech had been circulating around social media and messaging platform accompanied by criticism for his lack of formal wear at such an event in the company of judicial officers such as a Presiding Judge See Kee Oon and many other big names in tech. As you can see in the photo, the other panelists were appropriately dressed in formal suits and closed shoes, which is in stark comparison to what Hongyi was wearing.
Netizen have also pointed out that Hongyi looked quite unkempt with his messy hair.
Hongyi is an MIT graduate who had previous worked at Google and now works with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore since 2013. His LinkedIn profile states that he charged with increasing interest in computer science education in Singapore, redesigning and reimplementing data.gov.sg, and improving the transport network. In fact, Hongyi was the lead developer behind the Parking.sg app that allows drivers to digitally pay for parking in Singapore.
Still, that doesn’t excuse his messy image. Steve Jobs always looked presentable and professional, even though he wore basically the same thing for decades.
Prominent businesswoman Jun Low commented on Hongyi’s appalling attire as well, describing it as ‘beyond bad taste’. She said, “I’m utterly shocked by the family’s upbringing where what he dons is inappropriate and is certainly a show of disrespect for all the 3 guys seen on stage wearing suits with him, not to mention audiences at large.”
Ms Jun Low added that there is a fine line between being cool, being modest, and being simply disrespectful to both the event and attendees. She ended by commenting that Hongyi, dressed as he was, remind her of the notorious Amos Yee.
