A bitter feud between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his brother erupted shortly after the death of Patriarch Lee Kuan Yew in 2015, in an attempt to escalate into the political arena with the prime minister’s estranged brother Lee Hsien Yang. There seems to be Thinking of running for president of the island republic when the current president, Halima Yacoub, ends his term next year.. ambition to eventually follow him as prime minister.
A presidential election is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023. One hedge fund manager told his Asia Sentinel that the next three years could be volatile as 71-year-old Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching (pictured above) are likely to attempt an election campaign. says. Pushing his son Lee Hong-yi to become a future prime minister, there is also the possibility of backlash from within the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), which is filled with people wanting the promotion. The hedge fund manager said he had moved a significant portion of his assets out of Singapore out of concerns.
That may be enough caution. Thus, family strife has reached a very serious stage, and at a time when a growing number of multinationals are moving to the islands, the government of Singapore, arguably the most efficient technocrat in Southeast Asia, is taking over. It can threaten fair operations. Escape Covid-19 restrictions and restrictions created by national security on free speech in Hong Kong.
While the presidency in Singapore is largely ceremonial, with the prime minister holding the political reins, the president has the right to prevent the government from withdrawing past state reserves that it has not accumulated, and the government has certain enforcement powers, such as the power to approve changes to Senior political appointments such as Attorney General, Attorney General, CEO of sovereign wealth funds like Temasek Holdings. Therefore, if Shen Yang becomes president, he will have the power to irritate the government in several ways. However, two sources told Asia Sentinel that he is taking running seriously. He is one of the few Singaporeans who qualifies for the presidency, which includes being CEO of a company with at least S$500 million (US$349 million) of share capital for at least three years. He is one of the people. He was previously CEO of Singapore He Telecom, one of Singapore’s largest listed companies.
“Singapore has done very poorly and drifted under Lee Hsien Loong, so many Singaporeans are yearning for a good time under Lee Kuan Yew. That’s what Lee Hsien Loong fears,” a source who declined to give his name told Asia Sentinel.
Ho Ching was CEO of Temasek Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund, until October 1, 2021. of this. Asia Sentinel email queries to the Prime Minister’s Office remain unanswered.
If Hsien Loong’s brothers end up at odds with Hsien Loong’s wife, in 2017 over the disposal of the colonial home of Lee Kuan Yew, ostensibly the founder of modern Singapore and a towering figure throughout Singapore. It would be a continuation of a feud that grabbed the public’s attention. Asia, if not the world, which ran city-states with iron discipline. In his will and public statement, he stipulated that the house be destroyed to prevent it from becoming a shrine to his memory.
Given the feuds between Lee’s senior children, if Hsien Loong remains prime minister and Shen Yang becomes president, like two former presidents of Singapore, Ong Teng Chong and Devan Neil, the president and It is highly likely that a tough relationship will develop between the prime ministers.
After Ong became president in 1993, his attempts to obtain information on the national reserve were thwarted. After resigning as president in 1999, Ong gave an interview to the now-defunct Asiaweek magazine on March 10, 2000, describing his attempts by the Singapore government to obtain information on the national reserve. he said he felt “a little embarrassed” for interfering with
“Lee Hsien Loong was very upset that Ong Ten Chong asked about reserves,” said one source. “If Shen Yang was in a position to do the same, it must be Lee Hsien Loong’s nightmare. He has a strong profile and an independent mind.”
In 2017, Shen Yang and his sister Wei Ling posted on Facebook that Shen Long and Ho Ching are trying to push their 35-year-old son Li Hongyi into politics in their bid to eventually become prime minister. Despite Hongyi’s denials, he has been getting more and more coverage in Singapore’s media and many in politics think it is only a matter of time before he becomes president. thinking.
The Lee family and government have long used malleable courts to hunt down political rivals, file lawsuits in a frenzy and accuse them of contempt. This has left both the opposition parties and the local and international press with little or no serious criticism. But now there are growing concerns that Shenron is abusing his office powers to invent legal avenues to pursue family discord. It also reaches Hongyi’s cousin Li Shengwu, the eldest son of his wife Lee Suet Fern. In 2020, Shengwu, assistant professor of economics at Harvard University in the United States, said: convicted of contempt of court Also, “Censored In Singapore, keep in mind, of course, that the Singapore government has a very litigious and flexible court system.”
Shengwu did not attend the hearing but paid the fine. On July 11, he posted his official statement on his Facebook page, saying he felt unsafe to return to the island. to Singapore. He likes to revisit old controversies. My uncle has a habit of suing his critics in Singapore courts. Fortunately, the SPEECH Act of 2010 allows foreign jurisdictions at least as much speech as is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Foreign defamation judgments are unenforceable in the United States unless they protect the freedom of the defendant. I currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts and have a green card. Unable to return home, it is heartbreaking to watch Singapore from afar become more and more authoritarian. I am grateful for the support and sympathy of my friends and colleagues at Harvard. “
The issue of disposing of the Kuan Yew house also impacted the career of senior attorney Lee Suet Fahne, who was suspended for 15 months by a judicial commission over the handling of the patriarch’s house. The last will is said to have differed in important ways from his sixth and penultimate wills. Including the distribution of his property among his three children and the demolition of his house. I had a discussion with Kwa Kim Li,
All this ties in with considerable gossip in Singapore that Lee Hsien Loong has no intention of retiring as prime minister.At the age of 71, he hesitated for more than two years to name his successor. Later, it named Lawrence Wong, now Finance Minister, as the leader of the so-called “fourth generation”, first choosing Heng Swee Keet, then rudely dumping him, then spending. months before finally settling on Wong. The painstaking process exposed the party’s inner workings, and Hsien Loong’s real goal was to find a successor, Hongyi followed the interim dynasty, effectively a Li family dynasty as Hsien Loong was. It has ruled the islands for over 63 years since the British left.