Singapore Prime Minister's younger brother challenges after being threatened with lawsuit

In his first comments since being threatened with legal action by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Mr. Lee Hsien Yang - younger brother of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said he was simply stating the facts published by the media, according to The Straits Times .

In his July 23 article, Mr. Lee said the two ministers rented state-owned houses through an agency that one of them controlled. Mr. Lee said the ministers had cut down trees in the house and had it refurbished with state funding. The agency in question is the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which is overseen by Minister Shanmugam.

Mr. Lee Hsien Yang in 2020

"They misunderstood what I said," Mr. Lee Hsien Yang said of the July 23 post. "My post does not assert that Shanmugam and V. Balakrishnan acted improperly or for personal gain, through the SLA giving them preferential treatment in illegally felling trees and also having the SLA pay for their renovations," the younger brother of the Singapore Prime Minister said in a new post on July 29.

"My post simply stated facts that have been widely reported in the Singapore and international media," Mr. Lee continued. The Singapore government had previously issued a fake news alert to Mr. Lee over the post.

The two ministers said on July 27 that they had asked their lawyers to send a letter to Lee Hsien Yang, demanding that he withdraw the accusations, pay compensation and apologize, or face lawsuits. The compensation money will be donated to charity.

"My article was published in the UK. If K. Shanmugam and V. Balakrishnan believe they have enough evidence, they should sue me in the UK," Mr. Lee Hsien Yang wrote.

According to Channel News Asia, Mr. Lee Hsien Yang and his wife are currently living abroad. The couple left Singapore after being investigated by the police for perjury during the proceedings. Mr. Lee Hsien Yang was also accused of lying in judicial proceedings about the will of his father, the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

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