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SINGAPORE: If he still depended on living in his late father Lee Kuan Yew’s home at 38 Oxley Road to “exude a magical aura and impress the population,” both he and Singapore would be in a “very sad state,” the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday (December 1).
He made this comment in the courtroom evidence as part of a lengthy exchange with attorney Lim Tean about whether he had misled his father into thinking the house would be listed as estate property.
The Oxley Road property has taken center stage in a defamation lawsuit PM Lee filed against Lim’s client, the editor-in-chief of The Online Citizen (TOC) sociopolitical website, Terry Xu.
The lawsuit went to trial in Superior Court on Monday. It continued Tuesday in a crowded courtroom, subject to safe distancing measures, as Lim interrogated Prime Minister Lee.
READ: TOC defamation lawsuit – Siblings animosity evident, but PM Lee hopes ‘things can be fixed’ one day
The Prime Minister is suing Mr. Xu for alleged defamation over an article published in TOC in August last year. The article was titled “PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching shares an article on severing ties with family members.”
Since 2017, Prime Minister Lee has been embroiled in a dispute with his brothers, Dr. Lee Wei Ling and Mr. Lee Hsien Yang, over the fate of his family’s home at 38 Oxley Road after the death of his father, who was the founding prime minister of Singapore.
The TOC article, PM Lee’s attorneys have said, contains repeated false accusations by his brothers that seriously hurt his character and reputation.
“POLITICALLY UNDENIABLE”
During a three-hour hearing on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Lee reiterated his stance on 38 Oxley Road – that it was “politically untenable” for him to benefit from the redevelopment.
If he wanted to fulfill his father’s wishes and do this, “it would do Singapore bad,” he said.
PM Lee had previously explained that he had recused himself from the government’s handling of the property and sold the property to his brother.
Part of his defamation case is that those who read the TOC article would think that Prime Minister Lee misled his father into thinking that the government would put the house in an official gazette and that it was useless for the late Mr. Lee to uphold his position. that it should be demolished. .
READ: Court documents claim PM Lee ‘suffered loss and damage’ following publication of The Online Citizen article
READ: Prime Minister Lee Will Testify In Court If Defamation Suit Against TOC Editor Terry Xu Goes To Trial
The house has never been published.
On the other hand, Xu’s case is that between December 27, 2011, when Mr. Lee wrote to the Cabinet about the house, and on September 6, 2012, when he said in an email that it had been listed as a heritage house, he had been misled into thinking it had been published.
Therefore, Lee removed the demolition clause in his fifth will in October 2012, Xu argues.
Mr. Lee had signed six wills over 15 months between August 2011 and November 2012. He signed a final one, with the demolition clause reinserted, in December 2013.
NO FREEDOM OF ACTION
Earlier, Prime Minister Lee testified that many members of the public, newspaper editors, and cabinet members wanted the house preserved. Mr. Lee wanted it demolished.
On Tuesday, in an attempt to establish the proposition that the late Mr. Lee thought the house would be published, Lim took PM Lee through numerous emails between himself, his father, Madam Ho, and his brothers.
On August 11, 2011, Dr. Lee responded to an email from his father. She said she would prefer to continue living at the Oxley Road property, but that he “made the decisions.”
The late Mr. Lee replied, “I can’t make the decisions. Loong as PM has the last word. “
In another email shortly thereafter, he also said: “Even if I tear it down while I’m alive, the prime minister can label it a heritage site and stop the demolition.”
Mr. Lim told Prime Minister Lee in court: “The reality of the matter is that you, as Prime Minister, the most politically powerful person in Singapore, had the last word. Not the editors, not the Cabinet, not the public. “
PM Lee replied, “That’s what my father said, but I explained what I would do if I was the one to make the decisions. In other words, he really had no leeway. “
“THE SINGAPOREANS KNOW ME”
Mr. Lim then suggested that Mr. Lee was “distraught” after meeting with the Cabinet in July 2011. Prime Minister Lee responded, “That’s wrong.”
The attorney also suggested that it was “convenient” for PM Lee to say there was pressure from others to preserve the house when his father knew that he, PM Lee, was the boss.
“I totally reject it and have explained why,” replied the Prime Minister.
“Are your brothers right when they said you wanted to keep the house to inherit Lee Kuan Yew’s credibility?” asked the lawyer. PM Lee said he thought this was “silly”.
Mr. Lim then asked, “Will the prime minister residing in Oxley remind the public of his father?”
“Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse,” Prime Minister Lee responded.
“Are you saying that Singaporeans have a terrible impression of your father?” asked the lawyer.
“I’m saying Singaporeans know me… I’ve been a politician for 36 years, PM for 16 years. If I still depended on living in the house to exude a magical aura and impress the population, I think I would be in a very sad state and Singapore would be in a very sad state, ”he replied.
GAZETTING NOT EVEN PERTINENT: PM
Among the emails Lim received was one that the late Mr. Lee sent to Mdm Ho, copied from PM Lee.
He had said: “Yes, but Loong, as prime minister, has indicated that he would declare it a heritage site that will end any reconstruction.”
In his evidence, PM Lee explained that they had discussed the matter repeatedly afterwards and that his father knew on December 27, 2011, when he wrote to the Cabinet, that the house would not be published.
Mr. Lim produced another email from the late Mr. Lee dated September 6, 2012 where he wrote: “Although it has been listed as a heritage home, it is still mine as the owner.”
PM Lee accepted that, according to the email, his father believed the house had been published at the time. However, he said he did not discuss the matter with Lee beyond May 2012.
The attorney pointed to another email dated November 30, 2013 sent to Mr. Lee by his regular attorney, Ms. Kwa Kim Li. It read: “Last night, he raised the possibility that Oxley might one day be removed from the post after his passing.”
PM Lee again emphasized that he had not discussed the listing of the property with his father.
When asked by his own attorney, lead attorney Davinder Singh, if publishing a newsletter was even a relevant point, he replied, “No. Even if it hadn’t been published and I, after inheriting the house, were allowed to remodel and capitalize on it, I think it would have been a huge stench. It is impossible.”
The trial continues Tuesday afternoon with Mr. Xu taking the stand.
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