Lee Hsien Yang questions PMO's right to loan LKY's personal items to NHB
Lee Hsien Yang has questioned the right of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to have loaned the late Lee Kuan Yew’s personal items to the National Heritage Board (NHB) for an exhibition.
“(The) personal items do not belong to the PMO and are not theirs to loan. This oversteps the legal rights of the PMO,” he said in a Facebook post on Saturday (24 June) morning.
Hsien Yang, the son of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, added that the “residual items” left by his late father’s estate should rightfully come under its executors – Hsien Yang and his sister Lee Wei Ling – and “not the beneficiaries or the PMO”.
He also noted that he and Wei Ling do not object “in principle” to lending their late father’s personal belongings to the NHB.
‘Interference’ by PM’s wife
In the same post, Hsien Yang also reiterated his stance that PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching had interfered with the estate by acting on behalf of the PMO while handing over Lee Kuan Yew’s items to the NHB.
“Ho Ching somehow believes that acting on behalf of the ‘PMO’ gives her license to take LKY’s personal belongings and interfere with the estate. (How does she act on behalf of PMO, despite having no official position in PMO?),” he said.
The issue was raised by Hsien Yang in a Facebook post on Thursday, wherein he accused Ho of having “helped herself” to a number of his father’s items while acting “under the auspices” of the PMO.
Ho refuted these claims in her own post on Friday, in which she said she had discovered the items in question at the late Lee’s home at 38 Oxley Road sometime in April 2015 – following the latter’s death – and had notified PM Lee about them as she thought they were of historical significance.
She added that PM Lee thought it would be useful to lend the items to the NHB, which was organising an exhibition on the late Lee’s life.
“I arranged to do so through the PMO, emphasizing to NHB that these items belonged to the estate and must be returned,” Ho said, adding that Hsien Yang and Wei Ling had been kept up to date on what she had done. According to her, Hsien Yang was agreeable to letting NHB pick up the items that were of historical significance.
“You may wish to check your e-mail records to refresh your memory on the various updates that I had given you during those 2 weeks”, said Ho, referring to the period during which she was organised the late Lee’s personal items.
Related stories:
PM Lee Hsien Loong obtained deed of gift for Oxley House items in official capacity: Lawrence Wong
PAP took Lee Kuan Yew’s note to Cabinet ‘out of context’: Lee Wei Ling
Ministerial Committee ‘refused to identify’ full membership for almost a year: Lee Wei Ling
NHB error on collection date for LKY’s items ‘even more troubling’: Hsien Yang
Lee Hsien Loong told Lee Kuan Yew he wanted Oxley house to be heritage site: Hsien Yang
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PM Lee apologises for family feud affecting Singaporeans’ confidence in Government
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PM Lee’s new stance over Oxley Road house led to my statement with Wei Ling: Hsien Yang
