Lee Hsien Yang Says No One Complained About Signing Of Will Before LKY Died
Mr Lee Hsien Yang, son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) has come out with a statement on Wednesday (26 Feb) asserting that he had nothing to gain from the final will LKY made.
This comes after his wife, Mrs Lee Suet Fern, was found guilty of misleading LKY by a Disciplinary Tribunal into signing a will where she and Mr Lee would stand to gain.
She plans to appeal the guilty verdict. Meanwhile, the defence continues on social media. Here’s what he said.
Evidence provided that equal shares decided by LKY with lawyer
In the post, Mr Lee refutes the allegation made by his brother, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, that the will was “engineered” by him and Mrs Lee to get a larger share of LKY’s Estate.
However, “undisputed evidence” was presented at the tribunal showing that it was LKY himself who made the decision to revert to equal shares.
Albeit, this proof comes from Dr Lee Wei Ling, the sister of Mr Lee.
Previously, Dr Lee herself had suspicions over the final will, as the 6th will had allocated more shares of LKY’s estate to her, but this seems to be a point from the past.
Under final will, Dr Lee Wei Ling gets to stay in 38 Oxley
The 2nd point Mr Lee made was that under the final will, Dr Lee would get to stay in 38 Oxley Road until she decides to move out.
This seemingly doesn’t benefit him. In 2015, PM Lee sold 38 Oxley Road to his brother at market price after LKY willed the house to him.
In the 6th will, the right for Dr Lee to live at 38 Oxley Road was at the discretion of PM Lee.
The final will removed this clause. However, because the house was given to PM Lee, the other 2 siblings appeared unhappy regardless.
PM Lee stated that he offered to sell the house to Dr Lee “to appease them”
Mr Lee maintains that nothing about this deal or the fact that her sister gets to live in 38 Oxley Road benefits him, and he was trying to help her.
LKY thought house would be gazetted
The gazetting of 38 Oxley Road would designate the house as a heritage site, meaning it cannot be demolished.
LKY’s wish, according to Mr Lee and Dr Lee, was for the house to be demolished. Apparently, LKY discussed with his lawyer, Ms Kwa Kim Li, over the “degazetting” of the house.
Apparently, the house had never been gazetted in the first place.
Mr Lee claims that this is the reason why the demolition clause was re-inserted into the final will after it had previously been removed.
Apparently, the clause had only been removed before due to this misunderstanding.
Facts probably better debated in court
The matter is years old, but seems far from resolved. Both PM Lee and the Attorney-General seem convinced that the final will had been fudged to benefit his brother.
After all, Mrs Lee did prepare the final will – which would reflect badly no matter the circumstances, since her husband is a beneficiary.
However, we may have to wait for Mrs Lee’s appeal for any final judgment on the matter.
Featured image adapted from AFP.
