Lee Hsien Yang (LHY), son of Singapore’s late founding father Lee Kuan Yew and brother to the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, recently expressed his severe criticism of the current administration through a Facebook post on Sunday.
In his post, he accused the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) of eroding public trust through various acts of misconduct and corruption.
LHY stated that the trust placed in the PAP had been “shattered.”
He criticized his elder brother, PM Lee Hsien Loong, of failing in his leadership role and squandering the trust inherited from their father. He maintained that “trust has to be earned, it cannot simply be inherited.”
In his critique, LHY brought up several controversies and scandals.
These included allegations that two ministers had leased state-owned mansions from an agency one of them controls, engaged in state-sponsored renovations, and fell trees on the property. He also brought up corruption offences by two Temasek companies, Keppel and the former Sembcorp Marine.
Furthermore, he mentioned the arrest of a cabinet minister on corruption charges, the fraudulent inflation of circulation numbers by SPH Media Trust, to which the PAP government had promised S$900 million in funding, and the resignation of the Speaker of Parliament due to an extramarital affair.
LHY highlighted how these scandals reaffirmed his and his elder sister Dr Lee Wei Ling’s past assertion that they did not trust PM Lee Hsien Loong as a brother or a leader in a statement that the two siblings issued in June 2017.
He concluded his post with a damning statement: “These latest facts speak volumes. Hsien Loong’s regime does not deserve Singaporeans’ trust.”
During the recent parliamentary sitting in July, PM Lee defended his ministers and the integrity of his government.
He expressed confidence in Ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan, whose controversial rentals of black-and-white bungalows from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) had stirred public speculation.
The Prime Minister asserted that there was no wrongdoing as long as rental processes were conducted properly and procedures were adhered to.
The investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean commissioned by PM Lee, also found no evidence of criminal activity or improper conduct.
The Prime Minister’s Office recently announced the resignations of Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui from both Parliament and PAP over an affair that they had.
PM Lee, who had knowledge of the situation for years, had advised them to end the relationship. And despite their persistence in maintaining the relationship, PM Lee did not ask the two to step down from their positions.
SPH Media Group, mentioned in LHY’s accusations, had earlier filed a police report following its scandal of having found overstating circulation numbers after conducting an audit.
The report, however, cleared the journalism and editorial departments of any involvement and provided insight into how the numbers were manipulated. The government
Meanwhile, Transport Minister S. Iswaran together with billionaire businessman Ong Beng Seng was arrested in connection with a corruption investigation. Details of the investigation remain undisclosed. However, rumours have it that it has to do with the awarding of the Formula One race in Singapore.
