In his first comments since being threatened with legal action by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long, said he was simply stating the facts as reported by the media, according to The Straits Times .
In an article published on July 23, Mr. Lee said the two ministers rented state-owned housing through an agency controlled by one of them. Mr. Lee said the ministers had cut down trees in the property and had it renovated with state funding. The agency in question is the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which is overseen by Minister Shanmugam.
Lee Hsien Yang in 2020
"They misunderstood what I said," said Lee Hsien Yang regarding his July 23 post. "My post did not assert that Shanmugam and V. Balakrishnan acted improperly or for personal gain, through the SLA granting them preferential treatment when allowing the illegal felling of trees and even paying for their renovations," the Singapore Prime Minister's younger brother said in a new post on July 29.
"My post simply stated facts that have been widely publicized in Singaporean and international media," Mr. Lee continued. Earlier, the Singaporean authorities had issued a fake news alert to Mr. Lee regarding the post.
The two ministers said on July 27 that they had asked lawyers to send a letter to Lee Hsien Yang, demanding that he withdraw the accusations, pay compensation, and apologize, or face legal consequences. The compensation money will be donated to charity.
"My article was published in the UK. If K. Shanmugam and V. Balakrishnan believe they have sufficient evidence, they should sue me in the UK," Lee Hsien Yang wrote.
According to Channel News Asia, Lee Hsien Yang and his wife are currently living overseas. The couple left Singapore after being investigated by police for perjury during legal proceedings. Lee Hsien Yang is also accused of lying during judicial proceedings regarding his father's will – the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
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