On Sunday (29 Sept), Mr Lee Hsien Yang revealed in a Facebook post that he had paid more than S$600,000 to Ministers Vivian Balakrishnan and K Shanmugam following a defamation lawsuit.
The payment comes after he was taken to court by the two ministers in August 2023 for remarks he had made in a July Facebook post regarding preferential treatment related to the Ridout Road rentals.
On Tuesday (1 Oct), the two ministers issued strongly worded responses, addressing Mr Lee’s claims and reiterating their stance in two largely identical posts titled “Hsien Yang and his antics”.
In their Facebook posts, both ministers criticised Mr Lee and said his post shows that he would “say anything”. Dr Vivian added that Mr Lee would do this “without regard to the facts”.
Responding to Mr Lee’s comment that it was unfortunate” they chose not to pursue the case in English courts, the ministers clarified that their lawsuit was filed in Singapore as his defamatory remarks were posted in Singapore, and which were primarily “meant for”, and concerned Singaporeans.
Both ministers also highlighted that Mr Lee failed to turn up for a trial in Singapore where he had the chance to “show Singapore, and the rest of the world, that he is right and they (we) are wrong”.
Source: K Shanmugam Sc on Facebook
In addition, Mr Lee had previously contextualised the damages paid, stating it amounted to around 13.6 months’ rental for the two Ridout Road properties.
Dr Balakrishnan and Mr Shanmugam took issue with this portrayal, reiterating their commitment to donate the damages to charity.
The ministers further questioned Mr Lee’s decision to bring up 38 Oxley Road in his post, pointing out that the property, and the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, were unrelated to the defamation cases.
Source: Wikipedia
In his earlier post, Mr Lee said he had paid the sum to “honour his (my) father’s wishes in connection with his home and allow Wei Ling, who is ill to continue to stay at 38 Oxley Road”.
Mr Lee currently owns the property after his brother and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sold it to him at market price in 2015.
Source: Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook
Dr Balakrishnan and Mr Shanmugam clarified that they had never indicated any intention to enforce the judgment on Mr Lee’s Oxley Road property, which Mr Lee described as his “significant asset in Singapore”.
They also accused him of misleading the public by omitting that he owns other assets in Singapore sufficient to cover the damages.
“It is also rich of him to claim that he tried to honour Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes when he knows that his conduct, vis-à-vis his father, has been the subject of scathing remarks by the Courts,” both added.
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Featured image adapted from K Shanmugam Sc, Lee Hsien Yang, and Vivian Balakrishnan on Facebook.
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