Singapore ordered the estranged brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to attach a fake news notice and correct his Facebook post sharing “untrue” statements related to luxury bungalows rented by two senior ministers.
(Bloomberg) — Singapore ordered the estranged brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to attach a fake news notice and correct his Facebook post sharing “untrue” statements related to luxury bungalows rented by two senior ministers.
A government review into homes rented by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam last month found no evidence of corruption or criminal wrongdoing. The opposition had initially questioned whether the senior members of Lee’s cabinet were paying less than market rates for the properties.
The prime minister’s brother Lee Hsien Yang posted on Sunday the state had paid for renovations for both the houses and trees were cleared in the area because of the two ministers —- allegations the Ministry of Law said were untrue.
“The identity of the tenants had no bearing on the decision on the works to be carried out on the properties,” the ministry said in a statement. “The post omits important information that the works done were in keeping with the Singapore Land Authority’s practice, and were assessed to be necessary in the circumstances.”
The homes’ rental costs had become a headache for the ruling People’s Action Party after media reports emerged in May. Since then, the party and the prime minister have been grappling with scandals involving lawmakers, including a graft probe involving a cabinet minister.
Lee Hsien Yang defended his Facebook post and said he is considering whether he should comply with the fake news notice. “The facts speak for themselves,” he told Bloomberg News. “The facts speak volumes.”
He and his wife are also under police investigation over the handling of the last will of his father Lee Kuan Yew, who founded modern Singapore.
Discord among the Lee siblings has simmered for years since death of their father in 2015. It largely centers on whether a colonial-era bungalow near the glitzy shopping district where the patriarch lived for most of his 91 years should be demolished.
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