Lee Hsien Yang: No, DPM Teo did not share the options being explored on the house with us

More shots fired.

Henedick Chng | June 20, 2017, 06:50 PM

The Lee family's public feud over the fate of the house on 38 Oxley Road continues.

In Hsien Yang's latest salvo on Tuesday afternoon, he directly contradicted a point made by DPM Teo Chee Hean, who made a statement on Saturday about the Ministerial Committee convened to look into issues regarding 38 Oxley Road.

In particular, it was this point DPM Teo made in his statement:

"The Committee has tasked the relevant agencies to study a range of options for the property. I have shared some of these options with the siblings. For instance, they know that I would personally not support the options at either end of the range: at one end, preserving the House as it is for visitors to enter and see would be totally against the wishes of Mr and Mrs Lee Kuan Yew; and at the other, demolishing the house and putting the property on the market for new private residences. The Committee has also been studying various intermediate options such as demolishing the House but keeping the basement dining room where many important historical meetings took place, with an appropriate heritage centre attached. These studies are ongoing."

In response to this, Hsien Yang said that not only did neither him nor Wei Ling hear from DPM Teo in his capacity as chair of the committee, they also were not informed of any options by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who first alerted them to its existence.

On the interactions they did have with DPM Teo, Hsien Yang said their meetings took place before the committee was formed, and that DPM Teo would always include the disclaimer that he was expressing his personal views in those meetings.

Here's his Facebook post:

And the text, if you can't see it:

DPM Teo Chee Hean on 17 June 2017: “The Committee has tasked the relevant agencies to study a range of options for the property. I have shared some of these options with the siblings."

Wei Ling and I wish to clarify that we have had no interaction with DPM Teo Chee Hean in his capacity as Chair of the Committee since the Committee has been formed. Neither has Lawrence Wong who was the sole point of contact given any indication of the range of options under consideration.

We had met with DPM Teo on numerous occasions apart from and well before the formation of the committee. During those discussions we had explored a wide range of options as well as concerns we had regarding Lee Hsien Loong and his family. DPM was always careful to preface his remarks that any views he expressed were personal views.

PM Lee "flip-flopping"

Screenshot from PM Lee Facebook video

And following PM Lee Hsien Loong's statement and apology to Singaporeans on Monday evening (Jun. 20), Hsien Yang said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning that he and his sister Wei Ling never had any objections to PM Lee receiving an equal share of the house.

Their grievance, he says, lies in what they say is PM Lee "flip-flopping" in his stance on their father's wish to demolish the house.

Here is Hsien Yang's post:

And the text, in case you can't see it:

Lee Hsien Loong now claims, “My father left the property at 38 Oxley Road to me, as part of my equal share of his estate. But my siblings were not happy about it.”

Wei Ling and I never had any objection to LHL receiving an equal share of the estate. We object to LHL's flip-flopping about Lee Kuan Yew's demolition wish.

We asked a simple question, that he has refused to answer for a week: Was our father, Lee Kuan Yew, unwavering in his demolition wish? Yes or no?

The feud carries on.

Perhaps the Members of Parliament for Hsien Yang and Wei Ling's constituencies should take note of their questions and arguments in preparation for Jul. 3.

Here's the best way to follow developments in the Lee family feud:

Top image from here.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.