Lee Hsien Yang declares he’s a ‘political refugee’, S’pore authorities maintain he’s ‘free to return’

Lee Hsien Yang says he’s a ‘political refugee’ in the UK

UPDATE (22 Oct): The Ministry of Digital Development and Information has released a statement in response to queries by UK News site The Guardian.

In the statement, an MDDI spokesperson maintained that Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife are “free to return” to Singapore as there are no legal restraints against them.

This is also the case for their son, Mr Li Shengwu, who had paid his fine for contempt of court. The full statement is available here.

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Mr Lee Hsien Yang, son of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, has declared that he’s a “political refugee from Singapore” under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

In a Facebook post today (22 Oct), Mr Lee revealed that he sought asylum in the UK in 2022 “as a last resort”.

He recounted the events of 2017 when he and his late sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, publicly stated that they “do not trust Hsien Loong as a brother or as a leader.”

Mr Lee said they “feared the abuse of the organs of the Singapore state against us and against my family,” which made him unable to attend his sister’s funeral.

Because of that risk, I was unable to attend Wei Ling’s funeral.

Dr Lee died on 9 Oct at 69, more than four years after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disorder. Mr Lee organised her funeral remotely and delivered his eulogy in a 10-minute video.

Says police investigation is ‘bogus’

Mr Lee continued to detail the aftermath of their public statement.

“The Singapore Government’s attacks against me are in the public record,” he said, citing the prosecution of his son, disciplinary action against his wife, and a “bogus police investigation” that has persisted for years.

On the basis of these facts, the UK has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution, and cannot safely return to Singapore.

He went on to say that he remains a Singapore citizen, “and hope that some day it will become safe to return home”.

The post has garnered more than 1,000 likes just an hour after it was published.

Told The Guardian S’pore is no paradise

In an interview with The Guardian published on 22 Oct, Mr Lee claims there is a “dark side” to Singapore.

“What people think, that this is some kind of paradise – it isn’t,” he said.

Mr Lee left Singapore in 2022 after being informed that he and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, were required to assist in investigations for allegedly providing false evidence in relation to Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s will.

The former prime minister passed away on 23 March 2015, sparking a family feud as members clashed over the fate of his home at 38 Oxley Road.

In 2023, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam stated in a parliamentary session that the Disciplinary Tribunal and the Court of Three Judges had found Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife “to be dishonest”.

Mr Lee, who is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has continued to be outspoken on social media.

Earlier this year, he was ordered to pay S$400,000 in damages for defaming Mr Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan over the Ridout Road saga.

He said he paid more than S$600,000. The ministers have announced that they will donate the damages to charity.

Also read: ‘Farewell Ling, you will always be my special big sister’: Lee Hsien Yang delivers eulogy for sister via video

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Featured image adapted from Lee Hsien Yang on Instagram, Instagram, and on Facebook.