A son of modern Singapore’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew, has been given asylum in Britain. According to his lawyers, persecution was behind their client’s decision, linked to a family feud with his brother, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s former Prime Minister. The dispute started after their father’s death in 2015. This whole controversy revolves around a fight over the fate of their family home on 38 Oxley Road. His brother Lee Hsien Yang and sister, the late Lee Wei Ling, have publicly denounced him for milking his father’s legacy for political gain, and willfully frustrating the last wish of his father, that is, to demolish the house.
The Singapore government has dismissed claims of persecution against it, stating that Lee and his family are free to return to the country without legal restraint. Lee Hsien Yang insisted that he had applied for asylum since he feared oppression. He and his wife, who had been residing in the UK for a number of years already, were granted refugee status.
Despite all this, the Singapore government has consistently denied all the allegations put before it, while Lee Hsien Loong has refused to utter a single word on the matter. The family feud has had its own dose of publicity and political notice, but mainly because the Lees have been at the forefront of shaping Singapore’s history and governance.
