A grandchild of Lee Kuan Yew in politics? Singaporeans divided on prospect, says survey
Singaporeans are divided on the prospect of a grandchild of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew entering politics, according to a survey commissioned by Yahoo News Singapore.
In the survey conducted by market research consultancy Blackbox Research, the question was posed, “Many commentators have talked about how Singapore has been dominated by the Lee family throughout its history and whether the Lee family is a dynasty in the making. How would you feel if one of Lee Kuan Yew’s grandchildren were to enter Singapore politics?”
Half of the 916 Singaporean respondents felt positive about the prospect, with 41 per cent of feeling “quite positive” about it and 9 per cent having “very positive” sentiment.
But the other half of the respondents didn’t welcome the prospect – 30 per cent of them felt “quite negative” about it, while 20 per cent viewed it as “very negative”.
The survey also asked respondents if they preferred Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat or Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing as the next prime minister, and what they felt were Heng’s strengths and weaknesses.
In recent months, there have been persistent rumours that 31-year-old Li Hongyi, the grandson of the late Lee, is being groomed for political office. The son of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has denied this and said he has no interest in politics.
Hongyi is currently working as Deputy Director (Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Division) at the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), a unit of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The allegation that PM Lee is attempting to start a political dynasty has also been a running theme in the Lee family saga, which first erupted on 14 June 2017 when his siblings Wei Ling and Hsien Yang issued a joint statement of “no confidence” against their older brother.
The siblings claimed to be threatened by PM Lee’s pursuit of a personal agenda against them and accused him of plotting to keep the former family house at 38 Oxley Road in order to build a political dynasty. PM Lee issued a Ministerial Statement in Parliament to deny their allegations.
Hsien Yang’s eldest son Li Shengwu is currently facing contempt of court proceedings stemming from a private Facebook post made by Shengwu on 15 July 2017, which allegedly attacked Singapore’s judiciary. The 34-year-old assistant professor of economics at Harvard University has denied this.
The Court of Appeal has reserved judgement on Shengwu’s case.
Family troubles
In an interview with Al Jazeera last year, Shengwu was asked if his cousin Hongyi wants to pursue a career in politics.
When the news broadcaster mentioned Hongyi’s comment that he wasn’t interested in politics, Shengwu said, “You can remain uninterested until you become interested. I can’t read my cousin’s mind. All I can say is that if he didn’t want to be in politics, he could have said things a lot more clearly and in a way that would be at least a little bit difficult to walk back.”
He also told AFP in a separate interview, “Not only do I intend never to go into politics, I believe that it would be bad for Singapore if any third-generation Lee went into politics. The country must be bigger than one family.”
PM Lee’s other children are his daughter Li Xiuqi, and sons Li Yipeng and Li Haoyi. Hsien Yang’s other children are his sons Li Huanwu and Li Shaowu. Wei Ling has no children of her own.
The Blackbox survey was conducted from 14 to 26 December last year. Those aged 50 and above accounted for 40 per cent of the respondents, 28 per cent came from the 35 to 49 age category, and 24 per cent were from the 25 to 34 age group. Those in the 15 to 24 age group comprised 8 per cent of respondents.
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