NO RECONCILIATION IN SIGHT FOR FEUDING LEES: SISTER WEI LING FIRES NEW SALVO AT HSIEN LOONG – DON’T BLAME IT ON HSIEN YANG, I’M THE ONE WHO ASKED HIM TO JOIN IN ON $1 OXLEY ROAD DEAL

SINGAPORE – Dr Lee Wei Ling has clarified some details of a failed deal that would have seen the 38, Oxley Road family home transferred to her for a nominal amount.

Earlier in Parliament on Tuesday (July 4), her brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, to whom the house was bequeathed, described how he agreed in May 2015 to transfer it to her for just $1.

He said that their brother, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, “wanted in on the deal” and buy the share jointly with Dr Lee from him for $1.

An hour later, Dr Lee responded on Facebook, saying: “When Hsien Loong offered to sell Oxley to me for $1 I immediately asked Hsien Yang to be part of the deal with me. I have neither the time, nor the inclination to deal with the house on my own.”

She stated clearly that Mr Lee Hsien Yang did not ask to join her in purchasing the house for $1.

Dr Lee added: “Hsien Yang had long planned to demolished the house when I no longer need it and convert it into a public garden. Neither of us were planning to profit from the deal.”

As part of the $1 deal, PM Lee asked that if the property were sold or acquired by the Government later, all proceeds would be donated to charity.

Dr Lee responded: “As for the donation to charity, Papa was very clear in his mind, he and Mama had paid for the property at the full financial value when they bought it, there was there for no need to donate to charity any money related to transactions on Oxley.”

PM Lee said in Parliament that the deal fell through because the siblings could not agree on the terms of the agreement. It included conditions on what they could do or say.

In Dec 2015, PM Lee later sold his share of the house to Mr Lee Hsien Yang at fair market value. Each brother donated half the value of the house to charity, and PM Lee also topped up another half

This was a variant on a proposal discussed with their father Mr Lee Kuan Yew, which was not adopted in the end.

Dr Lee and Mr Lee have publicly accused their brother of abusing his power by blocking the demolition of the house after their father died.

– ST