Li Shengwu, the nephew of Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, appears in The New York Times’ “How Tyranny Begins” video. - Photo: The New York Times/YouTube via SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
SINGAPORE (Agencies): A widely shared New York Times video on “tyranny” in four countries featuring the grandson of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has drawn the ire of the city state’s government, with its envoy to the US saying Li Shengwu is “masquerading as a persecuted dissident”.
The opinion video, titled How Tyranny Begins, was circulated on social media platforms and forums soon after its publication last Wednesday.
Besides Li, the nephew of Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the five-minute clip featured three others – a journalist, activist and academic from Russia, Nicaragua and Hungary, respectively – who shared their experiences with repressive regimes.
The speakers discussed how Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary and Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega had consolidated absolute power.
For his part in the video, Li says tyranny starts not with the “stuffing of ballot boxes” but with “retribution”, accusing Senior Minister Lee of using police and criminal prosecution to “dispose of or exile his opponents”.
Li also recounts that he was given a fine over a social media post that was shared only with friends. “I fled the country as soon as I could,” Li says in the clip.
CNA reported that the Singapore government accused the New York Times (NYT) of advancing the publication's own agenda in a video featuring Li, the nephew of former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.
In a letter to the NYT editor on Sunday (Jan 26), Singapore's Ambassador to the US, Lui Tuck Yew, characterised the opinion video, titled How Tyranny Begins, as a commentary on the state of US politics.
"But you draw in Singapore via the misleading analogies provided by Mr Li Shengwu, masquerading as a persecuted dissident," said Mr Lui.
"Mr Li has never been exiled from Singapore, jailed or stripped of his possessions, as might some of the others in your feature. He remains a Singapore citizen and continues to travel freely on a Singapore passport."
He added: "It is not for us to comment on US domestic politics. But we must object when you use a false portrayal of Singapore to advance your own agenda."
The Jan 22 NYT video featured four people who said they had experienced repression in their countries.
The other three people spoke about their experiences under Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, Hungary's government under Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Nicaragua leadership under President Daniel Ortega.
In the video, Li, a 39-year-old economics professor at Harvard University, accused his uncle of having a "pattern of using police investigations and criminal prosecutions to dispose of or exile his opponents".
"When it would be too obvious to prosecute someone for being an enemy of the state, you have to make something else up," he added.
Li's father is Lee Hsien Yang, who had sought asylum protection in the United Kingdom after making similar allegations against Mr Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down as prime minister last May and remains in the Cabinet as Senior Minister.
Li pointed to a private Facebook post he published in 2017, saying after that, "the Singapore government went after me with a criminal prosecution".
"I fled the country as soon as I could," he added.
Li's Facebook post on Jul 14, 2017, accused the Singapore government of being "very litigious and (having) a pliant court system".
"This constrains what the international media can usually report," he added, including a link to a New York Times editorial titled Censored In Singapore.
In his response to NYT, Lui said Singapore takes the rule of law seriously and that Mr Li was not above the law - having been charged with contempt of court in 2020. He paid the S$15,000 fine imposed by the court and has not been under investigation for anything else since.
He is free to return to Singapore at any time, he added.
In response to Li's point that it was better to fight rather than give in, Lui said Li can contest in the next General Election, which must be held before November this year.
"Instead, Mr Li parleys his status as the grandson of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and lends himself to the Times to provide false analogies for US politics," said the ambassador.
"It is deeply regrettable that he has chosen to denigrate the very country his grandfather had a pivotal role building."
Li's video on NYT also mentions the appointment of Lucien Wong as Attorney General in 2017, after he had served as then-prime minister Lee's personal lawyer.
Lui said: "Contrary to the dark picture that you and Mr Li paint, the Singapore that Mr Lee Kuan Yew built ranks 16th on the 2024 Rule of Law Index, well ahead of the US for many years.
"The 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Singapore the 5th least corrupt country in the world – again, well ahead of the US for many years."
DimSum Daily also reported that Lui countered that Li remains free to return or contest upcoming elections, dismissing his “cynical” use of his lineage to “denigrate” Singapore’s institutions.
The ambassador again highlighted Singapore’s global standing, citing its 16th-place ranking on the 2024 Rule of Law Index and fifth place on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, both ahead of the US.
The dispute intersects with a long-running feud over 38 Oxley Road, the late Lee Kuan Yew’s home.
Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, left Singapore in 2022 amid police investigations into alleged perjury linked to the execution of their father’s will. Courts ruled the couple misled Lee Kuan Yew and lied under oath—claims they deny, citing political persecution.
In a separate letter addressing a 11 January NYT article on the family rift, Lui rejected the notion of a Singaporean “first family,” stressing no individual—including Lee descendants—is above the law.
He criticised the NYT for omitting court findings that the couple acted with “dishonesty,” questioning how “contrived and ultimately untrue” accounts did not equate to lies.
The government further accused Lee Hsien Yang of leveraging Western media to distract from his legal troubles, dismissing his claims of systemic governance flaws as “grandiose” and “deeply offensive” to his father’s legacy.
It noted Lee Hsien Loong recused himself from Oxley Road decisions and donated house sale proceeds to charity, rebutting allegations of dynastic ambitions.
Singapore’s Ministry of Communications reiterated that its judiciary and parliamentary processes ensure accountability, stating: “The government is subject to laws enforced by an independent judiciary and answerable to elected representatives.” - Agencies
