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SINGAPORE PRIME MINISTER Lee Hsien Loong yesterday denied abusing his power and attempting to establish a dynasty as a family feud went public after the first anniversary of the death of his father Lee Kuan Yew.
Reacting to attacks from his younger sister Lee Wei Ling, the prime minister said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply saddened” by the claims and called them “completely untrue”.
Singapore on 23 March marked the first anniversary of the death of Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s authoritarian first prime minister who ruled from 1959 to 1990.
His death at age 91 sparked a massive outpouring of grief among Singaporeans, many of whom credit the family patriarch with turning Singapore from a poor former British colony into one of the world’s wealthiest and most stable societies.
Over 100 different activities were held to mark the first anniversary last month.
But the prime minister’s sister Lee Wei Ling, a physician who serves as senior adviser to the National Neuroscience Institute, went public on Facebook with her criticism of the commemorations – which she suggested may be part of dynasty-building – after a column she submitted to the country’s leading daily The Straits Times was rejected for publication.
Yesterday she made public an email exchange with a Straits Times editor in which she accused her brother of having “no qualms abusing his power” in order to stage a commemoration just a year after their father’s death.
Lee Wei Ling said this was part of efforts by “the power that be” to “establish a dynasty” and vowed that she would not allow her father’s name to be “sullied”. In an earlier Facebook post she said that Lee Kuan Yew “would have cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death”.
The prime minister said the activities were mostly planned by citizens who wanted to show respect for the former leader.
“The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP (the ruling People’s Action Party), nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt,” Lee wrote.
Lee (64) became Singapore’s third prime minister in 2004. He also has a younger brother, corporate leader Lee Hsien Yang.
Despite his major achievements Lee Kuan Yew was criticised locally and abroad for restricting political freedom, including muzzling the press, jailing political opponents and suing critics for defamation.
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Fascinating but why don’t we also get something about Sir Elton and his superinjunction in the youkay?
Red fingers for asking about a story about Sir Elton and family affairs? So the Scottish Herald can out him but Dublin media cannot or should not? I like Sir Elton. Last week, we had the Vatican talking abour family matters. Bless them! They know naaathing about the subject. Sir Elton is a family man with children and he puts family first. This should be more widely reported. Give credit where credit is due.
So by not reporting the sordid details, the Irish media is somehow failing to give to give him credit for being a private family man who doesn’t discuss the sordid details? Confused dot com.
What’s this about ‘sordid’? Have you seen reports of ‘sordid details’? I have a much higher view of Sir Elton as a person and parent. I’m disappointed. I think I’ll go and listen to ‘Candle in the Wind’ for the millionth time or maybe ‘Daniel’ or maybe ‘Dont let the Sun (check the spelling, sordid) go down on me’.
Yes I have seen reports of sordid details. I have access to foreign webaites.
This isn’t a spelling bee, by the way.
Oh my Gawd. Please don’t share. We have a recent Blasphemy Law in Ireland. Sir Elton is sacred to some of us. Any way, what’s a ‘webaite’? I hope it’s nothing sodid, now.
You have access to ‘foreign’ sites, it seems. I presume you mean ‘non-British’ in this case. As the celebrity superinjunction doesn’t take effect in ‘foreign’ Scotland, I had thought it might not apply to ‘foreign’, ‘independant’ Ireland. You know with all that tiresome 1916-2016 stuff…. Indeed, for some of us on thejournal.ie ‘foreign’ still means ‘not Irish’. No harm in that. We take an interest in matters foreign, as you do. Anything to keep ourselves distracted from the Panama Papers which, I’m sure you will agree, is a seriously ‘sordid’ affair. But there you have it, as they say, ‘the rich will always be with us’, and they have the celebs to keep us amused and distracted. Just doing my bit.
This thread started with a story about Singapore and the Lee family. Very interesting place and people.
I wonder does family company Temasek Holdings have shelf companies in Panama or would the Panama Paper providers have deleted any reference to such a good US ally? Temasek manages a portfolio that must be in the region of 200 billion USD.
Pm me hun xxx
Must be a slow news day?
Or you’re just not interested in this story.
Singapore has a ‘stable’ government. Is there a subliminal message here for other ‘smallish’, sovereign, island republics which may have probems forming an executive? De Valera was Ireland’s Lee Kuan Yew but, in fairness, he lost the odd election. Sean Lemass was a ‘son-like’ figure. But then it all went wrong somewhere. Singapore has one family. How many families ‘govern’ Ireland or what’s left of sovereignty? Yes, it is a slow day as we wait for Thursday.
Was this the guy Mugatu had Derek Zoolander programmed to assassinate?
Will ENDA 2 be a flop like ZOOLANDER 2? Then again, it might be funnier.
have your say