PM wanted to avoid ‘public fight that would tarnish family name’

SINGAPORE — He did not challenge the validity of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will because he wished to avoid “a public fight which would tarnish the name and reputation of Mr Lee and the family”, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

While he had concerns about the circumstances leading to the will, he “was prepared not to delve further ... if the disputes within the family could be resolved amicably and privately”, he said in the edited summary of his statutory declarations, which were released by his lawyers to the media.

The declarations were submitted to the ministerial committee looking into options for the Lees’ family home.

Referring to his siblings, PM Lee said: “I was also and am still concerned that Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang wanted to drag out probate and the administration and winding up of the estate so that they can use their position as executors for reasons which are strictly unconnected with the administration of the estate.”

Probate refers to the legal process under which a will is proved in a court and accepted as a valid public document.

On Wednesday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang asked why PM Lee did not raise his concerns in court. Speaking to TODAY, he said the Last Will was “final and legally binding”.

“If Lee Hsien Loong had any doubt about the validity of the Last Will, he should have challenged it in court,” he said.

“Frankly, it is completely improper to use a Cabinet committee to pursue an issue like this when the proper channel was at the court.”

PM Lee also said that matters reached a point where his siblings “threatened to escalate their attacks” against him during the General Election in September 2015, he said.

He added: “I was not prepared to be intimidated. Their accusations were not only baseless; they were based on the premise that there were no unusual circumstances surrounding the making of the Last Will.”

PM Lee also stated that after 38 Oxley Road had been bequeathed to him, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and their sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, “expressed unhappiness”.

As part of efforts to resolve the family disputes amicably, he was prepared to transfer the house to Dr Lee for a nominal sum of S$1 on the condition that should the property be transacted later or acquired by the Government, all proceeds would go to charity. “However, a resolution proved impossible,” PM Lee said.

After the 2015 GE, Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang agreed to PM Lee’s proposal to transfer 38 Oxley Road to Mr Lee Hsien Yang at market value, on the condition that the two brothers each donated an amount equivalent to half of that value to charity, “to pre-empt any future controversy over compensation or redevelopment proceeds”.

“I was prepared to transfer 38 Oxley Road to Lee Hsien Yang so that he and Lee Wei Ling could handle the 38 Oxley Road matter as they saw fit between them,” PM Lee said.

In accordance with the agreement, PM Lee donated half of the value of 38 Oxley Road to charity. Although not required under the agreement, he also donated a sum equivalent to the other half of the property’s value to charity.

The family home now “wholly belongs” to Lee Hsien Yang, PM Lee noted.

“This is consistent with the position that I had always held and conveyed to my family: that it is not tenable for the family to retain proceeds from any dealing with 38 Oxley Road, as it would look like the family is opposing acquisition and preservation of the House for monetary reasons,” he said.

“Lee Hsien Yang was and continues to be unhappy about my taking this position. So, it would appear, is Lee Wei Ling.”