THE Singapore First Family spat continued today with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressing grave concerns about his father Lee Kuan Yew’s last will and his sister-in-law’s role in drawing up the document.

He released a 40-paragraph statement today detailing the events surrounding his father’s six wills prepared by a relative preceding the last one prepared by Lim Suet Fern, a lawyer married to his brother Lee Hsien Yang.

“I continue to have grave concerns about the events surrounding the making of the Last Will,” Hsien Loong said in the statement, “I am not aware of any facts which suggest that Mr Lee (Kuan Yew) was informed or advised about all the changes that were made when he signed the Last Will, or that Mr Lee was properly advised about the contents of the Last Will.”

“In fact, there is no evidence that Mr Lee even knew that the Demolition Clause had been re-inserted into the Last Will,” he said. 

The island republic’s third prime minister came under attack two days ago by his siblings Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling, who released a six-page statement denouncing him for misusing his powers in their quarrel over the family home in Singapore’s Orchard shopping district.

Hsien Loong, who is on annual leave, denied their allegations, which had included criticicm of his wife Ho Ching for her prominent role in the country. 

In his reply to his estranged siblings, PM Lee said his concerns were heightened by what appeared to be a conflict of interest. His sister-in-law and his siblings are referred to by their initials in his statements. 

“LSF was involved in the preparation and/or signing of the Last Will, while her husband, LHY, was a beneficiary under the Last Will and stood to gain by the removal of LWL’s extra share in the Estate under the Last Will. 

“It would appear that LHY felt very strongly about LWL not receiving an extra share, which explains why, in April 2015, he told me that there “would have been big trouble” if Mr Lee had not changed the will back to equal shares between the three children,” Hsien Loong said.

Kuan Yew’s three children have been involved in a longstanding feud over his 38, Oxley Road residence – a feud that made headlines when Wei Ling and Hsien Loong went public with their allegations against the prime minister.

Kuan Yew’s grandchildren have also had their say in the bitter family row. Hsien Yang’s son, Shengwu Li on Tuesday backed up his father and aunt, claiming that the family had in recent years become increasingly worried about the “lack of checks on abuse of power”.

“The situation is now such that my parents have made plans to relocate to another country, a painful decision that they have not made lightly,” he said on Facebook.

The prime minister’s son, Li Hongyi, was more reticent. “I have really no interest in politics, for what it’s worth,” he wrote, also on Facebook, a day after his uncle and aunt named him in one of their several allegations against his father. They had accused Hsien Loong of harbouring political ambitions for him and that Hsien Loong wished to build a “Lee dynasty”. – June 15, 2017.