Lee Wei Ling: I will no longer write for SPH
Lee Wei Ling said on Friday (1 April) that she will no longer write for the Singapore Press Holdings due to what she claimed were editorial curbs, after she spoke out last week against the “hero worship” of her late father and Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew on his death anniversary.
In a succinct post on her Facebook page, Lee said, “I will no longer write for SPH as the editors there do not allow me freedom of speech. In fact, that was the reason why I posted the article on LKY would not want to be hero-worshipped.”
Minutes later, she followed up with a separate post, saying, “The next time I have anything to post, it will be open to public.”
The senior advisor at the National Neuroscience Institute had previously written a number of commentaries for The Straits Times newspaper over the years.
On 25 March, Lee wrote a lengthy post on her Facebook page saying that her father would have objected to the extensive commemoration activities that were held in the run-up to his death anniversary. The elder Lee died on 23 March last year at the age of 91.
Lee was prompted to write the post after seeing a front-page article in The Straits Times on 21 March, which “carried a photo of an outline of Papa’s face made with 4,877 erasers that form an installation… titled Our Father, Our Country, Our Flag”.
While the installation was a “well-meaning effort”, Lee said it made her “wince”. Making reference to her first visit to China with her father in 1976, Lee added that her father was “dead set against a personality cult”.
The Straits Times, which dedicated 11 pages to mark the death anniversary, referenced the post when reporters brought it up with Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong during a remembrance event to mark the elder Lee’s passing.
