NHB stayed neutral despite being drawn into ‘private disagreement’: DPM Teo

SINGAPORE — Despite unusual conditions set by the Lee siblings in the Deed of Gift for items belonging to their father — such as displaying only part of their father’s final will — the decision was made to go ahead with an exhibition on the country’s founding leaders.

This was to keep the National Heritage Board (NHB) and the exhibition neutral on a matter that was then a private disagreement among the Lee siblings on founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes for his estate.

The items — including a wooden writing table and language books studied by Mr Lee Kuan Yew — formed part of a major SG50 exhibition held in 2015.

However, it was “ironic” that such efforts to keep government agencies neutral were being “distorted” into allegations of abuse of power for private interests, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament on Tuesday (July 4).

If the NHB was to be faulted, it is that the agency was drawn into a “private disagreement” through the deed, he noted.

Mr Teo, who is also Minister in charge of the Civil Service, said Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s condition that the NHB had to display only part of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes for the house with the items had drawn the agency into presenting a particular viewpoint that was incomplete. 

This part of the Last Will stated that the founding Prime Minister had wanted the family home at 38 Oxley Road demolished when Dr Lee no longer lived there, but omitted the second half of it, which stated Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes if it could not be knocked down.

But despite Mr Teo’s discomfort on the matter, he agreed with then-Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong that, since the public agency had already signed the deed, the Government should “proceed with it, rather than have a public controversy”. 

“Contrary to this being an abuse of power, these were efforts to keep NHB, a public agency, and to keep a major public exhibition, neutral,” said Mr Teo.

Earlier this week, Mr Wong, now National Development Minister, revealed that Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Mrs Lee Suet Fern, was involved in discussions on the deed as a director on the NHB’s board. 

She supported the conditions stipulated by Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang in donating the furniture and personal items from the house to the NHB. Her law firm Morgan Lewis Stamford also helped in the process of finalising the deed.

Mr Wong said on Tuesday that it was Mrs Lee who had offered to help NHB in the negotiations.

The NHB thought that she could be useful as an intermediary to reach a “satisfactory” outcome with Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the executors of the late Mr Lee’s estate.

“Indeed, she helped to raise some of NHB’s concerns with them,” he said.

The NHB chairman later asked Mrs Lee to recuse herself on the matter when the agency had to engage in more extensive discussions with the executors to resolve legal issues, and she did, said Mr Wong.

When pressed further by Nominated MP Chia Yong Yong, Mr Wong acknowledged that, in hindsight, “some of these roles” should have been better clarified. He assured that the NHB has strengthened its internal processes to ensure that conflict rules are observed within the board.

Workers’ Party Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh wanted to know why there was a time lag of about four days in June 2015 between Mr Wong updating PM Lee of the exhibition and the conditions of the deed, and giving him a copy of the deed.

Mr Wong said that in the intervening period, the executors had issued a press statement to publicise their donation to the NHB, among other things.

Hence, a further update on the matter was in order, including updating PM Lee on the full facts, such as the specifics of the deed.

On Tuesday, Mr Teo reiterated that every political appointee and public officer was expected to act, at all times, according to the highest standards of “probity, accountability, honesty and integrity” in exercising his or her public duties.

Public officers are expected to be above-board and impartial in their dealings, including with members of the public who are family members of political office-holders.

Referring to a recent poll on the Oxley Road dispute, conducted by the Public Service Division (PSD) to gauge public officers’ sentiments on the matter, Punggol East MP Charles Chong asked about its results.

Mr Teo noted that the PSD seeks public officers’ sentiments periodically on issues that matter to them, and carried out the poll because the Lee siblings’ allegations extended to the Government’s integrity.

Most officers, he revealed, felt there was “some impact” on the Government’s credibility among Singaporeans, but the country’s reputation could recover.