AGC looking into Facebook post by Lee Hsien Yang's son Li Shengwu
The Attorney-General’s Chamber is looking into a Facebook post made by Lee Hsien Yang’s son Li Shengwu which was critical of Singapore’s court system.
Li posted an article by the Wall Street Journal on his Facebook page on Saturday (15 July), which referred to the 38 Oxley Road dispute involving the Lee siblings – his father, Lee Wei Ling and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He also criticised the Singapore court system.
The AGC said in a media statement on Monday (17 July) that it is aware of the post and is looking into the matter.
On Monday (17 July), Li said he was “surprised” at the AGC’s response. “Somewhat surprised that my last Facebook post has been enough to trigger a response from the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Singapore.
“This post was shared on ‘Friends only’ privacy settings on Saturday (20 likes at the time of this writing). Apparently, that’s enough to warrant three newspaper articles and a statement by the Attorney-General’s Chambers that they’re ‘looking into it’.
“I’m surprised that the Singapore government is so petty. Would they also like to trawl my private Facebook feed for seditious vacation photos?”
He also clarified – contrary to media reports – that the post was uploaded and taken down on Saturday. He added that the post had “never” been taken down, and that it was still visible to his Facebook friends.
His aunt Wei Ling also posted on Facebook about the AGC’s statement, saying she was surprised by its “negative reaction to a private post”.
“Is there a government servant whose duty is to follow the Facebook activity of all people related to Hsien Yang and I, including our private musings….Is this not an example of ” big Brother government”, Wei Ling said.
The Lee family feud gripped Singaporeans when it first broke on 14 June, when Hsien Yang and his sister Wei Ling issued a statement on Facebook denouncing their older brother and accusing him of pursuing a personal agenda with regard to their former family home at 38 Oxley Road. The siblings continued posting regular updates on the dispute until early July. Li often shared his father and aunt’s posts.
In Parliament on 3 and 4 July, PM Lee responded to the accusations, saying was no basis to call for a Select Committee or a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to look into the allegations of abuse of power.
Hsien Yang and Wei Ling said on 6 July that they would call a social media truce and welcomed the opportunity to manage the dispute privately with their brother.
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