Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed Parliament and the nation on July 3, 2017, with a ministerial statement regarding allegations made against him by his siblings regarding the 38 Oxley Road Lee family house.

Looking somewhat cheery throughout his nearly one-hour speech that started at 12.30pm, even as the sweat patches belie the tension within the longer he spoke, PM Lee said he hoped to lay to rest his family feud once and for all now that he has come out with his side of the story.

In no less than three occasions, he said he wanted this issue to be put to rest and for Singaporeans to move on.

The first instance was when PM Lee said at the beginning of his speech, briefly commiserating with regular Singaporeans who are more sympathetic:

I know many Singaporeans are upset by this issue. They are tired of the subject, and wish it would end.

He made the same point again when reasoning why he is in parliament giving this speech:

Today I am making this statement in parliament to account to members and to Singaporeans and to deal with the issue expeditiously, so that Singaporeans can understand what it is all about and we can put the matter to rest, once and for all.

And he also rationalised not suing his siblings for defamation as it would have made it a long drawn out process:

At the end of the day, we are brothers and sister, and we are all our father’s children. It would also drag out the process for years, and cause more distraction and distress to Singaporeans.

Therefore, fighting this out in court cannot be my preferred choice.

However, the conclusion of his speech was telling of his own expectations.

PM Lee said:

I hope one day I will be able to resolve the unhappiness within the family.

This could be read as his tacit acknowledgement that the matter will not end as quickly as he is hoping, but at least, it can be taken out of the public space to a more private setting -- an unlikely scenario given the propensity of Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang posting about the 38 Oxley Road house issue on social media as and when they like.

We could only hope too.