Janadas Devan, Chief of Government Communications (CGC), is a long-time friend of Lee Wei Ling (LWL), who is Lee Kuan Yew's daughter.

Both parties have decided to take their dispute online by responding to each other's version of events regarding a book authored by the former Straits Times editor-in-chief, Cheong Yip Seng.

But before we start, let's recap what has happened so far:

The online rant by LWL began when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was away to the United States for a work trip last week (March 26 to April 2).

In her Facebook post dated March 25, LWL criticised The Straits Times' extensive coverage on LKY's one year death anniversary, adding that her dad “would have cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death”.

On April Fools' Day, LWL was not joking when she declared that she would no "longer write for SPH (Singapore Press Holdings)". LWL claimed that the editors did not allow her freedom of speech.

This was surprising -- not because there is this thing called "freedom of speech" in Singapore -- but because LWL was a regular columnist with The Straits Times, a publication by the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). Straits Times Press, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SPH, had also published a compilation of her commentaries into a book, A Hakka Woman’s Singapore Stories, in September 2015.

But LWL was not done yet.

In a move likely to boost the book sales of OB Markers, former Straits Times editor-in-chief Cheong Yip Seng's (almost) tell-all book about the ST and politicians, LWL dismissed a rumour that LKY was unhappy with the book.

LWL said that his father "merely shrugged his shoulders" when she repeated what Janadas, already the CGC by then, told her. LWL claimed that Janadas complained to her that Cheong was "sly" to get LKY to "write a foreword on a book" that criticised LKY.

Why the storm in the teacup?

This is because a blurb contributed by the Lee Kuan Yew mysteriously disappeared in subsequent reprints of Cheong's eye-opening book.

In other words, either someone in government was unhappy enough to raise an issue with SPH or someone in SPH decided to self-censor and remove the blurb.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Which brings us to today:

Janadas, former Straits Times editor and son of the late President Devan Nair, provided three point-by-point rebuttals to LWL's last post:

This was in response to this:

We sum up the he say, she say versions here:

1. Did PM Lee call Cheong to scold him?

LWL: Yes, PM called him. Cheong was not scolded.

JD: No, PM Lee did not call Cheong Yip Seng or scold him. Cheong emailed PM about his book and PM replied.

Mothership.sg (MS): LWL, why don't you pick up a phone and call your elder brother to confirm? JD, why are you speaking on behalf of PM Lee?

2. Did LKY write a foreword for Cheong's book?

LWL: LKY wrote a foreword for Cheong's book.

JD: LKY did not write a foreword to Cheong’s book. He "provided a blurb – a few words for the back cover of the book".

MS: We checked. LKY did not write a foreword, but wrote a blurb, in the first page of the book. But it was not on the back cover of the book.

3. Did JD say that Cheong was "sly"?

LWL: JD complained to her that Cheong was sly.

JD: He rejected her claim, and claimed that it was her "characterisations of what happened, not mine".

MS: We propose both LWL and JD attend a conflict resolution course or a marriage counselling course provided by Ministry of Social and Family Development.

For your info, Dr LWL is 61 years old and JD is 62 years old this year.

Top photo from OB Markers

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