Lee Hsien Yang has doubled down on his earlier statement and reiterated that ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan were wrong about what he said on Jul. 23, 2023 regarding their renting of state properties at Ridout Road.

Where it all began

In his Jul. 23 Facebook post, Lee criticised his brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and alleged that Singaporeans' trust in the People's Action Party had been squandered.

He listed several controversies in Singapore recently, including Shanmugam and Vivian's renting of state-owned black-and-white colonial bungalows located at Ridout Road.

On Jul. 25, 2023, Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong issued Lee a correction direction order under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) for the statements he made about Ridout and SPH Media Trust in his Jul. 23 post.

Lee complied, putting up a correction notice on top of his Jul. 23 post and as a new Facebook post on Jul. 25.

The latter was swiftly followed by another post two minutes later, where Lee said he stood by what he said.

Ministers said they will sue him if he does not apologise

Both Shanmugam and Vivian put up Facebook posts on Jul. 27.

"Lee Hsien Yang has accused us of acting corruptly and for personal gain by having Singapore Land Authority (“SLA”) give us preferential treatment by illegally felling trees without approval, and also having SLA pay for renovations to 26 and 31 Ridout Road."

Shanmugam and Vivian said Lee's allegations are false.

They added that they each sent a lawyer's letter to Lee for defaming them in his Jul. 23 Facebook post and asked him to apologise, withdraw his allegations and pay damages.

They said they will sue Lee if he does not oblige.

Put up two Facebook posts

In the days after both ministers' posts, Lee put up two Facebook posts, one on Jul. 29 and another on Jul. 31.

What he said on Jul. 29

In his Jul, 29 post, Lee claimed the ministers were wrong about his Ridout Road statements in his Jul. 23 post.

"Shanmugam and V Balakrishnan are wrong about what I said."

The ministers said in their posts that Lee had wrongly accused them of acting corruptly and for personal gain by having SLA give them preferential treatment and pay for their renovations.

To this, Lee repeated a line from his Jul. 23 post.

He claimed that his post did not assert that Shanmugam and Vivian "acted corruptly or for personal gain by having SLA give them preferential treatment by illegally felling trees without approval and also having SLA pay for renovations for them", unlike what both ministers had accused him of.

Lee added, "My post simply stated facts that were already widely published in the Singapore and international media."

What he said on Jul. 31

In his most recent Jul. 31 Facebook post, Lee maintained that Shanmugam and Balakrishnan were mistaken about his Jul. 23 post, and were in fact, "demanding that I lie in a public apology".

He claimed that Shanmugam and Vivian wanted him to make the following statement in the face of getting sued.

"I recognise that the Post meant and was understood to mean that Mr K Shamugam/Dr Vivian Balakrishnan acted corruptly and for personal gain by having the Singapore Land Authority give him preferential treatment by felling trees without approval and illegally and having it pay for renovations to 31 Ridout Road."

To this, Lee repeated the line from his Jul. 23 post once more.

He claimed: "Anyone who can read can see that Ministers Shan and Vivian are demanding a false apology, for statements that are just not there. No Singaporean should have to lie to avoid lawsuits."

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Top image from Lee Hsien Yang/Facebook and Ministry of Communications and Information/YouTube