Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said he was "saddened" by Lee Hsien Yang's use of "falsehoods to attack" Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has given his life to serving Singapore.

Desmond Lee, who is the Assistant Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP), claimed that Lee Hsien Yang was doing this to "bring down the government", as well as the party that his late father Lee Kuan Yew founded.

Lee Hsien Yang's Facebook posts

Desmond Lee was responding to Lee Hsien Yang's Facebook post via the party newsletter Petir on Jul. 26, in a comment piece titled "A reply to Lee Hsien Yang's lies".

Lee Hsien Yang shared in his Jul. 23 Facebook post that he thinks PM Lee has failed as a leader.

He cited recent controversies such as Ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan's rental of Ridout Road properties, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd's (KOM) corruption case, inflated circulation numbers, Minister S Iswaran's arrest, and the affair between former Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and PAP MP Cheng Li Hui.

Lee Hsien Yang added that his older brother's "regime does not deserve Singaporeans’ trust".

On Jul. 25, Lee Hsien Yang was issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) for his Facebook post.

Lee Hsien Yang put up correction notices at the top of his Jul. 23 Facebook post, and as a fresh post on Jul. 25.

The second post was quickly followed by another Facebook post on the same date, where Lee Hsien Yang wrote that he stands by what he said.

Despite abiding by the POFMA order, Lee Hsien Yang called the POFMA notice "misleading."

Desmond Lee's response

On Jul. 26, Desmond Lee questioned Lee Hsien Yang in his Petir response about how the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe into Iswaran served as an example of PM Lee's "failing in his leadership".

"How is this so? Just because PM Lee did what his predecessors, including Mr Lee Kuan Yew, did: Support CPIB’s investigation of possible wrongdoing by political office holders?

CPIB investigated Mr Teh Cheang Wan when Mr Lee Kuan Yew was the PM – and three other figures linked to PAP before that. Now another Cabinet Minister is under investigation.

That makes clear the Government’s stand on corruption allegations."

Lee Hsien Yang wants to bring government and PAP down

Desmond Lee said Lee Hsien Yang is "pursuing (a) vendetta."

He cited Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's 2017 Parliament speech relating to the 38 Oxley Road dispute.

Goh had said at the time that he heard that the goal of both Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern's, is to "bring Lee Hsien Loong down as Prime Minister, regardless of the huge collateral damage suffered by the Government and Singaporeans".

Saddened by Lee Hsien Yang's falsehoods

Lee added that Hsien Yang's usage of falsehoods is "consistent with his duplicitous conduct towards" his father, the late Lee Kuan Yew.

"He, together with his wife, Mrs Lee Suet Fern, had misled the late Mr Lee, in the execution of his Last Will and Testament.

The Disciplinary Tribunal established to look into Mrs Lee Suet Fern’s professional conduct, said that Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s explanations had been 'downright dishonest'. He had no qualms lying under oath."

Lee said he is saddened that Lee Hsien Yang is using falsehoods to attack PM Lee, whom he said has given his life to serving Singapore.

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Top image screenshot from IPS and Progress Singapore Party/YouTube