Estranged brother of the Prime Minister points to multiple controversies undermining confidence in the PAP.

SINGAPORE – Lee Hsien Yang has once again criticized his elder brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the People’s Action Party (PAP), accusing them of losing the trust of the people due to a series of scandals that have dominated the news. In a Facebook post on July 23, Mr Lee Hsien Yang stated that the faith in his brother’s leadership and the ruling party “has been shattered.”

He referenced Prime Minister Lee’s recent claim that the public trusts the PAP due to its high standards of propriety and commitment to integrity. In response, Mr Lee Hsien Yang argued: “Trust has to be earned. It cannot simply be inherited.” He pointed to several recent controversies, including the Ridout Road rental issue, corruption allegations involving Temasek companies, the SPH circulation numbers scandal, the arrest of Transport Minister S Iswaran amid an ongoing corruption probe, and the resignations of two PAP MPs due to an extramarital affair that the PM had known about for two years.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang emphasized that he and his sister, Lee Wei Ling, had publicly stated in June 2017 that they did not trust their brother either as a leader or as a sibling, adding, “These latest facts speak volumes. Hsien Loong’s regime does not deserve Singaporeans’ trust.”

The ongoing Lee family feud, which began publicly in 2017 after the death of their father, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, has kept the family drama in the public eye. Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling accused their brother of abusing his power to serve his own political interests, particularly in the dispute over their father’s house, which PM Lee sought to preserve against his father’s wishes. The allegations were denied by PM Lee, and Parliament cleared him of any wrongdoing. The issue was eventually settled privately in 2019, with PM Lee agreeing to respect his father’s wishes regarding the demolition of the house.

In 2018, PM Lee described the family conflict as being in “abeyance,” expressing hope for reconciliation. However, Mr Lee Hsien Yang disputed this, accusing his brother of making no attempt to reach out for resolution. The family tensions have continued to play out in public, with Mr Lee’s son, Li Shengwu, facing legal consequences for contempt of court after making a Facebook post referring to the family dispute. Li Shengwu, who is an assistant professor at Harvard University, paid the fine but did not attend the hearing.

Further complications arose when Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Lee Suet Fern, was suspended from her legal practice for 15 months due to misconduct related to Lee Kuan Yew’s will. In March, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean disclosed that Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife were under police investigation for allegedly lying in judicial proceedings regarding the will. Mr Lee Hsien Yang called this “continued persecution,” and he and his wife have since relocated to an undisclosed location in Europe.

The family’s unresolved disputes, coupled with the public scandals involving the Prime Minister and his administration, have continued to spark intense debate about leadership, trust, and integrity within Singapore’s political landscape.