Retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan apologises to Lee Wei Ling for comments on 38 Oxley Road

Lee Wei Ling accused Bilahari of making false claims.

Matthias Ang | July 14, 2020, 06:46 PM

Retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan has apologised to Lee Wei Ling, the daughter of late prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, for comments that he made on 38 Oxley Road.

Accused by Lee Wei Ling of making a false claim

In a post put up on July 14, 2020, Lee Wei Ling accused Bilahari of falsely claiming that her brother, Lee Hsien Yang, had bought their house at 38 Oxley Road for S$1, and that Yang was angry as he had been "prevented from monetising the property".

In claiming that Bilahari had no right to make such a statement, Lee Wei Ling wrote:

"Yang did not buy the house for $1. He paid market price for the house to buy it from Loong, and made a further 50 per cent of the value of the house as a donation to charity."

She also claimed that Lee Hsien Yang had bought the house on the grounds that their father had given her the right to live in it for as long she wished and supposedly with the knowledge of statements made by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and National Heritage Board in April 2015:

"In view of the historical significance of the property, if a decision is made to allow for the demolition of the house, the Government is likely to disallow the site to be redeveloped in a way that would diminish its historical significance, for example, for commercial or intensive residential development."

Bilahari's apology

Bilahari subsequently replied to the post by apologising.

Source: Screenshot from Lee Wei Ling Facebook

Here is Lee Wei Ling's post:

What did Bilahari actually say?

Lee Wei Ling was likely referencing an answer that Bilahari had given in the comments section of a Facebook post which he had put up on July 9.

An online commenter had asked Bilahari if the house had been given to Lee Hsien Yang or if he had paid for it.

Bilahari gave the following reply:

Source: Screenshot from Bilahari Kausikan Facebook

Bilahari then corrected himself in the same thread and clarified that the house had been sold to Lee Hsien Yang at market price after it had been initially offered to Lee Wei Ling for S$1.

Source: Screenshot from Bilahari Kausikan Facebook

What are the circumstances surrounding the sale of the house?

According to a statutory declaration by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2017 over the matter, the circumstances surrounding the sale of the house are as follows:

  • Both Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang had expressed their unhappiness that PM Lee had been bequeathed with 38 Oxley Road, following the passing of their father in 2015.
  • PM Lee was prepared to transfer the property to Lee Wei Ling for a "nominal sum of S$1".
  • This came with the condition that should the property be transacted later or acquired by the government, all proceeds would go to charity.
  • However, PM Lee was unable to reach a resolution with his two siblings who threatened to escalate attacks against him, during the period of GE2015.
  • Subsequently, both of them agreed to his "fresh proposal", in the wake of GE2015, to transfer 38 Oxley Road to Lee Hsien Yang at market value, on the condition that both Lee Hsien Yang and himself each donated an amount equivalent to half of that value to charity, to pre-empt any future controversy over compensation or redevelopment proceeds.
  • As such, in accordance with the agreement, PM Lee donated half of the value of 38 Oxley Road to charity.
  • PM Lee added that he also donated a sum equivalent to the other half of the value of 38 Oxley Road to charity, although it was not required under the agreement.
  • 38 Oxley Road is therefore wholly under the ownership of Lee Hsien Yang.

Top left image from wiki.sg, right image via Jacky Ho, for the Institute of Policy Studies, NUS