Lui Tuck Yew objects to ‘false portrayal of S’pore’ by NYT in video featuring Li Shengwu
Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States (US), has objected to a New York Times (NYT) video featuring Mr Li Shengwu.
In his letter to the NYT editor on Monday (26 Jan), he said Mr Li used “misleading analogies” to advance the paper’s agenda.
Source: The New York Times on YouTube
Li Shengwu speaks about prosecution for contempt of court in NYT video
In the NYT Opinion video, released over YouTube on Saturday (25 Jan), Mr Li referred to his prosecution for contempt of court over a private Facebook post he made in 2017.
“I fled the country as soon as I could,” he said.
Mr Li, who is the grandson of former Singapore prime minster Lee Kuan Yew and eldest son of Mr Lee Hsien Yang, was one of four people featured in the video who said they had “experienced repression” in their countries. He was the only Singaporean in the video.
Source: The New York Times on YouTube
Titled “The First Signs of Tyranny, From People Who Missed Them”, the clip was evidently a commentary on US politics under President Donald Trump.
“You want to think it’s not happening because otherwise, you might have to do something,” said Mr Li in the video, adding:
It is better to fight… It is better to refuse rather than to give in and hope that somebody else will be the check and balance for you.
Li Shengwu free to return to S’pore any time: Lui
In his letter, Mr Lui acknowledged that Mr Li was charged with contempt of court in 2020 and had already paid his fine of S$15,000.
Since then, he has not been under investigation for anything else, with no outstanding charges against him, the Ambassador said, adding:
He is free to return to Singapore any time he wishes.
Mr Lui pointed out that Mr Li has “never been exiled from Singapore, jailed or stripped of his possessions”, unlike some of the others in the video.
He also remains a Singapore citizen and “continues to travel freely on a Singapore passport”, the Ambassador added, describing Mr Li as someone who is “masquerading as a persecuted dissident”.
Li Shengwu can contest in General Election: Lui
On Mr Li’s remark on how “it is better to fight… rather than to give in”, Mr Lui said:
If he so wishes, he can contest in the next General Elections, which must be held before November this year.
Instead of doing so, Mr Li “parleys his status as the grandson of Mr Lee Kuan Yew” to “provide false analogies for US politics” for NYT, the Ambassador said, adding:
It is deeply regrettable that he has chosen to denigrate the very country his grandfather had a pivotal role building.
NYT advancing agenda using ‘misleading analogies’ from Li Shengwu: Lui
Mr Lui objected to NYT advancing its agenda by using “a false portrayal of Singapore”.
The Ambassador said the paper was using Singapore to comment on US politics via “misleading analogies” provided by Mr Li.
Source: The New York Times on YouTube
In fact, Singapore is No. 16 on the 2024 Rule of Law Index — “well ahead of the US for many years”, Mr Lui noted.
Singapore was also ranked the fifth-least corrupt country in the world in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index — also well ahead of the US for many years.
This is contrary to the “dark picture” painted by Mr Li and the NYT, he added.
Also read: Li Shengwu: 7 things you must know about the Harvard tenured professor & Lee Hsien Yang’s son
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Featured image adapted from The New York Times on YouTube and Singapore Embassy in Washington DC on Facebook.
