Singapore Prime Minister apologizes to people for family dispute

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today apologized to Singaporeans for allowing a family dispute to affect the nation's reputation.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: Reuters.

"I deeply regret that this family dispute has affected Singapore's reputation and Singaporeans' trust in the government," AFP quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying in a televised speech today. "As prime minister, I apologize to everyone for this."

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reassured the public that the dispute would not distract him and his cabinet from their responsibility to run Singapore and address important national issues.

Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, the two brothers of Singapore's prime minister, have not commented yet. Mr. Lee Hsien Yang has said he would leave Singapore because he felt he was being followed and threatened.

The Lee family dispute began to be made public on June 14, when sisters Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang published a statement accusing their brother of abuse of power. The two alleged that since the death of their father, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, in 2015, the country had undergone changes that did not reflect the values ​​Mr. Lee stood for. They felt they had lost confidence in their brother as a leader.

They reiterated their father's wish to demolish the family home at 38 Oxley Road after his death, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife objected. The sisters argued that maintaining the house would allow their brother "and his family to inherit a tangible monument to Lee Kuan Yew's authority".

Mr. Lee Hsien Yang said that it was his brother's change of stance on the condition of the house that prompted them to issue a statement expressing their loss of confidence in him.

Ms Lee Wei Ling is a leading neurosurgeon while Lee Hsien Yang, a former general, has held various corporate positions, including 12 years as chief executive of SingTel. He is currently chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: Online Citizen

According to VNE