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Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, are being investigated by the Singapore police force for potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings over founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's will.

This was revealed by Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean in a written parliamentary answer published on Mar. 2

Teo said that the investigations came after a Court of Three Judges and a Disciplinary Tribunal found that the couple had lied under oath in November 2020 and February 2020.

Lee Hsien Yang, son of Lee Kuan Yew, is the younger brother of Singapore's current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Both initially agreed to attend police interview but refused to do so

Teo stated that the police had requested an interview with the couple as part of the investigations.

Teo said the couple initially agreed to attend the interview but had a change of heart and refused to attend.

"Their refusal is disappointing," Teo added.

Refusal to attend interview with police raised questions

Teo said that their refusal to participate in the investigations raises questions.

If they maintain their innocence, the investigation will give them a chance to vindicate themselves, Teo said.

"They should participate, take the full opportunity to give their side of the story and clear their names," Teo explained.

Teo said that the police had advised them to reconsider participating in investigations, but they have since left Singapore and remain out of the country.

The police also informed them that the necessary steps would be taken to complete the investigations in their absence.

Book had many inaccuracies: Teo

The written parliamentary answer was in response to a question filed by Member of Parliament Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim about an e-book written by Sudhir Thomas Vadeketh, titled "The Battle Over Lee Kuan Yew's Last Will".

Teo pointed out that the book had many inaccuracies," it was clear that the assertions in the book are calculated to mislead, as they are completely at odds with the findings and conclusions of the Court of Three Judges and a Disciplinary Tribunal."

PM Lee is involved in a dispute with Lee Hsien Yang and their youngest sister Lee Wei Ling, over their family home at 38 Oxley Road, two years after the death of their father, Lee Kuan Yew, in 2017.

In 2020, Lee Suet Fern was suspended from practice by the Court of Three Judges for 15 months after she was found guilty of misconduct over the handling of Lee Kuan Yew's last will.

Teo, chair of the Ministerial Committee on 38 Oxley Road, said that Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Suet Fern were found to lie under oath and misled Lee Kuan Yew in the context of the last will's execution.

"As the investigations are ongoing, I will not say more at this juncture," Teo said.

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh's response

There have been responses from the author himself, as well as Lee Hsien Yang (brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong) and Lee Hsien Yang's son Li Shengwu.

Response on website

Sudhir has responded to Teo's written reply.

Following Teo's written answer on March 2, Sudhir shared a post on Facebook with a link to a response on his website.

Titled "A response to Teo's response to the book", Sudhir noted that "every single fact in the book is from Supreme Court documents", and he had not introduced any "new facts".

Sudhir said that in order to avoid a biased approach, the book does not contain primary interviews (i.e. interviews with people who had a first-hand knowledge of the events), as he did not want to interview only a select few family members.

He added that the book offers an "interpretation of the collected facts" that may differ from the interpretations of others.

Sudhir said that his conclusions based on the available evidence, were:

• Lee Kuan Yew wanted his entire house at 38 Oxley Road demolished—nothing else—but he was aware that it might not be.
• Lee Kuan Yew's daughters-in-law Ho Ching (wife of PM Lee) and Lee Suet Fern (wife of Lee Hsien Yang), and two of his children Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang have been "unfairly judged" in this matter by public critics.
• The formation and findings of the Ministerial Committee on 38 Oxley Road are "problematic", in Sudhir's view.

Two more points addressed

Sudhir made another two points about Teo's written reply.

Lies under oath

The first was the part where the Court of Three Judges and the Disciplinary Tribunal found that Lee Suet Fern and Lee Hsien Yang had lied under oath. Teo said:

"Mr Thomas ignores these findings by the C3J and the DT, and the admissions made by Mr LHY and Mrs LSF.

He comes to the surprising conclusion that the judgments clear Mrs LSF and Mr LHY of "all suspicion of improper motives or manipulations"."

However, Sudhir said that on pages 28 and 29 of his book, he lays out the findings of the Court of Three Judges, including the "alleged inaccuracies offered by LHY and LSF."

Oxley Road demolition clause

The second was about whether Lee Kuan Yew wanted the Oxley Road house demolished, and whether he included a clause on this in his last will.

Annex C of the statement states:

"Example of an inaccurate statement in the book: Mr LKY did not have discussions with Ms KKL about reinserting the Demolition Clause into the Last Will, and was not advised by Mrs LSF that the Last Will reinserted the Demolition Clause.

Mr Thomas states that the Last Will was based on Mr LKY’s orders and suggests that Mr LKY had made a conscious decision to include the Demolition Clause in his Last Will.

However, the C3J and the DT found that:

• Up to three days before signing the Last Will, Mr LKY had not discussed with Ms KKL about replacing his Sixth Will withanother will, nor about reinstating the Demolition Clause in particular; and
• Mrs LSF did not tell Mr LKY that the Last Will reinserted the Demolition Clause."

In response, Sudhir said that he stated on page 20 of his book, "there is no record of him [LKY] having asked anybody for the Clause to be reinserted in the seventh and last will."

Sudhir added that at no point did he say that Lee Suet Fern advised Lee Kuan Yew about reinserting the Demolition Clause.

He also mentions an email sent by Lee Wei Ling, the only child living with Lee Kuan Yew at the time. The younger Lee sent the email on Dec. 16, 2013, which said, "Papa says go back to 2011 will."

This was the night before Lee Kuan Yew signed the final will. The 2011 will is also known as the "First Will", and Sudhir pointed readers towards Pages 35 and 70 of his book.

Lee Hsien Yang, Li Shengwu's responses

Lee Hsien Yang shared a response on Facebook, claiming without evidence that his family is being "persecuted".

"The relentless attacks continue," he added.

Li Shengwu, his son, also made a number of claims on his personal Twitter account, and said that many families have "vindictive relatives".

Top image via Getty Images