For yet another year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has not extended an invitation to his siblings, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling, to his Chinese New Year reunion dinner.
Two years ago, questions were swirling as to whether the PM would invite his estranged siblings for the CNY reunion dinner after snubbing them the year before.
It was noted earlier that the Prime Minister’s Chinese New Year message last year touched on the integration of Chinese Singaporeans with other races, setting Singapore apart from other Chinese communities around the world.
On Facebook, however, several netizens sarcastically asked if the Prime Minister would be inviting his younger siblings to his reunion dinner that year, alluding to two years ago when the two younger Lee siblings released a statement revealing that all of PM Lee’s relatives were invited to the dinner except them.
In July 2017, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling released a joint statement saying: “First Chinese New Year reunion after our father’s death, our brother invited all relatives except us.”
By that point, the siblings had been embroiled in a public feud over their family home on Oxley Road after their father’s death for a couple of years already.
Ironically, in his 2018 annual CNY message, PM Lee talked about kinship and creating happy memories with families.
He said: “Let us also cherish the blessings of kinship, thank our elders for what they have done for us, shower our children with love, and create more shared happy memories with our families. Happy Chinese New Year!”
But it appears he will not be creating shared memories with his siblings during CNY this year either as the lack of invitation continues for yet another.
TOC confirmed with Mr Lee and Dr Lee via email that the pair of them have not been invited for their brother’s Chinese New Year reunion dinner this year and therefore will not be in attendance.
The family has had a tough time these past few years with disagreements turning into a war of words online and legal battles in Court. The ripple effect is widespread, not limited to just the siblings but their families as well.
Yesterday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s son Li Shengwu said on his Facebook page that he has removed his cousin Li Hongyi, son of PM Lee, from his Facebook friends list.
In that same post, Mr Li had noted that he has decided not to continue to participate in proceedings brought against him by the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) for “scandalising the judiciary” in a private Facebook post he made relating to the Oxley saga.
Mr Li said, “I will not dignify the AGC’s conduct by my participation.”
He added, “I will continue to be active on Facebook, and will continue to regard my friends-only Facebook posts as private. However, I have removed my cousin Li Hongyi from my Facebook friends list.”
