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PAP took Lee Kuan Yew’s note to Cabinet ‘out of context’: Lee Wei Ling

Photo of Lee Kuan Yew: Reuters
Photo of Lee Kuan Yew: Reuters

A note given by the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to the Cabinet regarding his “true wishes” for the house at 38 Oxley Road has been taken “out of context” by the ruling People’s Action Party, Lee Wei Ling said on Friday (23 June).

Wei Ling did not reveal more details about the note in her post on Facebook.

Earlier Friday, PAP posted a video on its website in which a narrator claimed that “Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s will has been selectively quoted by others”. The narrator said that the first half of the demolition clause in the late Lee’s will has “often been highlighted”, regarding his wish and that of his late wife Kwa Geok Choo for the house at 38 Oxley Road to be demolished.

The narrator added there was also a second part which the late Lee “wanted”, which she read, “If our children are unable to demolish the House as a result of any changes in the law, rules or regulations binding them, it is my wish that the House never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants.”

The narrator then concluded by saying that the late Lee “clearly recognised that the house could be preserved” by citing an excerpt from a letter that he wrote to the Cabinet in December 2011. She narrated, “Cabinet ministers were unanimous that 38 Oxley Road should not be demolished as I wanted. I have reflected on this and decided that if 38 Oxley Road is to be preserved, it needs to have its foundations reinforced and the whole building refurbished.”

Wei Ling claimed that her brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, set “the context straight” in an email dated 12 April 2015 that was sent to her and her younger brother Hsien Yang regarding PM Lee’s parliamentary statement on their father’s passing.

Citing the email, Wei Ling reproduced what PM Lee supposedly wrote, “I say in my reply that the Will is subsequent to his note to cabinet, and that Papa’s position has been consistent throughout. Even his [LKY’s] note to Cab did not say that he wanted it preserved, only what has to be done if it is not to be demolished.”

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