Lee Hsien Loong wants to 'milk' Kuan Yew's legacy, claim siblings

PETALING JAYA: The siblings of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (pic) have accused him of harbouring political ambitions for his son Li Hongyi.

Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang said Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching, also wanted to "milk" the legacy of their late father, Singapore's founder and longest-serving prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away in 2015.

They said such behaviour was in stark contrast to Kuan Yew's leadership, as he had always held the best interests of Singapore and its people at heart.

They said their father was "authentic and spoke his mind (but) the same cannot be said for our brother, Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching.

"Nobody ever doubted that Lee Kuan Yew always held the best interests of Singapore and Singaporeans at heart.

"We believe, unfortunately, that Hsien Loong is driven by a desire for power and personal popularity. His popularity is inextricably linked to Lee Kuan Yew's legacy.

"His political power is drawn from his being Lee Kuan Yew's son. We have observed that Hsien Loong and Ho Ching want to milk Lee Kuan Yew's legacy for their own political purposes. We also believe, based on our interactions, that they harbour political ambitions for their son, Li Hongyi," Wei Ling and Hsien Yang said in a six-page statement released on Wednesday.

Hsien Loong had however denied all accusations levelled against him, saying that he was "deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations".

"Ho Ching and I deny these allegations, especially the absurd claim that I have political ambitions for my son," he said in a statement posted on his Facebook.