Opinion
Questioning the fairness: SM Teo’s remarks on Lee Hsien Yang amid leadership praise
In an interview with Straits Times, Senior Minister Teo expressed sadness over Lee Hsien Yang’s changes, amidst accolades for PM Lee’s leadership. SM Teo’s remarks raise questions about fairness and objectivity in handling family disputes publicly.
by Michael Han
Alas, the issues came up again.
After 7 years since that day when his two siblings rocked this little red dot with a statement in June 2017, sent out in the wee hours of the morning, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said that he was “quite saddened” by change in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother, Lee Hsien Yang.
This came out of nowhere, especially when PM Lee has full-page coverage in the Straits Times today dedicated to his leadership of 20 years. The accolades poured in, on how he had steered the country and stood stalwart for decades.
Timing notwithstanding, SM Teo didn’t say much about the specific of his expressed sadness. It’s a combination of events I guess, that is, the Oxley fall out, the serious accusations, the demolition clause, the change of political party allegiance, the online vitriolic, and many more.
Or, maybe it was the fact that the de facto first family has gone their separate ways, with one family, parents and son, living abroad, with what seems like a legal Damocles’ sword still hanging over their heads.
SM Teo said: “We worked in the armed forces in the joint staff. Which (LHY) left the (Singapore) Armed Forces. I encouraged him to stay to contribute to Singapore. He’s a very able man. But what I can say is…I was saddened to see the change in Hsien Yang.”
That was how he ended, or at least, how it was reported.
Sadness aside, he went on to exhume three issues about Oxley-gate.
First, he talked about PM Lee’s steadfastness in keeping an arm’s length over the personal family dispute.
“I’ve known him for a very long time. And he was able to separate the personal from what is right for the country. And so he recused himself. He asked me to oversee the matter,” he said.
The issue with that is, and has always been, that PM Lee had appointed someone who was reporting to him, and they have been close friends since Army days, just like his closeness with LHY. Both sides are brothers-in-arms, yet one side was also his boss.
I wonder, should someone as close as family be tasked to oversee, and risks him maintaining one friendship and losing another?
Maybe at that time, the gravity of the consequences were not readily foreseen? As such, you want someone you trust fully to hopefully find closure?
Second, SM Teo mentioned the vindication at parliament specially set up for the dispute. “(SM Teo) said his siblings’ baseless allegations had touched on the conduct of his office and the Government’s integrity, which made it necessary for the issue to have a full public airing.”
Full public airing? But his siblings were not invited to publicly air theirs, apart from their statement. What is hung in public for airing in parliament is largely one-sided, though it is in rebuttal to the statement.
You can say that this is one clothes-peg missing the other interlocking wooden prong. Or, as X-file would have put it, with a twist of mine – the truth is still finding its way back home.
I don’t doubt that PM Lee deserved to be heard, and he was nevertheless heard in full with an official online preview before the parliamentary airing with unanimous support.
And lastly, it was the disciplinary tribunal set up in 2019, where LHY’s wife was found guilty of misconduct unbefitting of a lawyer. She was suspended for 15 months. The ST article reports that PM Lee “had also raised concerns about the preparation of his father’s last will.”
What lingers is this: If PM Lee had known about the will right after his father’s passing in March 2015, he should also have known about the identity of the one who had prepared it. In any event, probate was duly completed. If so, it makes the timing of that concern rather curious.
One thus wonders, if not for the siblings’ statement in June 2017, would that concern still be a live concern?
After all, that said, and particularly after the total damages of S$297k that Terry Xu was ordered to pay in 2021, we all know where the OB marker is. Privacy is privacy. It’s still a personal family matter.
The message is clear: Let dead dogs lie.
This was first published on Michael Han’s Facebook page and reproduced with permission.
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lee hsien loong, as the most senior surviving brother of the lee dynasty, ought to have done a much better job at reconciling the two estranged brother and sister, sister in law and nephew Li ShengWu to the family. Instead, LHL chose to persecute his own blood ties to no end and insisted on defying the last death wishes of lee kuan yew and kwa geok choo over the oxleygate scandal. Both his parents would have been grieved to the core at LHL’s ruthless persecution of his own flesh and blood siblings. LHL’s failure in his family duties as a… Read more »
Blood is thicker than water. Needless to say, blood knows better than water. So who is this outsider trying to say things about those insider, who should know better? The current Ra Ra on the outgoing /incoming PMs is nothing but a feel good showmanship to bolster the ruling elites’ mandate percentage. Lots of reverse psychology used and regular dosage of fear. The oppies better don’t get suck into their game plan and forgot their own game plan. Otherwise it will be another long 5 year wait after 2025 and for many disgruntled true blue Singaporeans, it will be a… Read more »
This TCH is nothing but a brown noser. But strays like this specimen are happy to be fed the scraps of his master’s table.
a dog always loyal to his master …
let alone a well-fed one !!!
It starts wth LKY and things start to evolve and turning bad one after another. Not sure if it is Kama in the doing.
The nonstop reports by ST on pinky and his so-called legacy seems like pinky has gone up the lorry.
(Off subject) ….is this fella Teo and defence minister NG EH blood relatives of LHL?
They all kinda look alike and speaking style too…..
Is TCH testing or preparing the ground for the claims against LHY by the two Ministers which should be delivered soon? LW should be very careful here as the PAP will lose more GRCs if the amounts against LHY is astronomical. Every PAP Minister who acts in the personal interest of LHL displays a character flaw and loss of integrity. So how can the Public trust them when they are paid by taxpayers but choose to serve one disgusting person who wants to continue to be an albatross around our necks.
If emperor is surrounded by bootlickers and those who never speak up when wrongs are done, loyal people will not be around, the state of nation is in decay and serious danger. And we also know what kind of emperor he is or how muddleheaded he is in using people.
It MUST be damn embarrassing to observers, bystanders, to know the gutless slut Loong, to goad, or possibly balls licking Hean himself voluntarily, get to slander Yang when jolly well Hean, Loong knows that they get free unlimited mileage, wide publicity to gun down Yang’s (and his family by extension) gentleman repute. Drastic in their low morals, they know possibly no effective defence from Yang. The PAP Administration hallmark of using laws also, is what they weaponsied whole of SG to fall into line. This VICIOUS PAP has to be ELIMINATED. Soon. With an evil empire many nations do NOT… Read more »
All the same Mafia Gang that Nobody Trust. Lee and Teo regime … Full of shadow with no clarity in their behaviour.
Dun keep using my family as your wayang show to override the ppl rights. Crappy and shitty and self serving leadership!
All the more reason that LM as the incoming PM should retire him and GCT. Otherwise he is just merely a proxy of the old regime. It calls for “The New Reset” by LM to show that he means what he promises to the people. The buck stops with him putting his feet where it should be and not being another puppet. No????
TCH, you too should have recused yourself when PM told you to overseer the matter since you are close to PM. You should have suggested a independent judge to review the matter.
I am not even going to dignify TCH comments about LHY – I am simply not going to read what I believe is a smear campaign against LHY. My conviction is based on the Oxley “decision”. As far as I am concerned, LKY’s intention for the house to be demolished was very clear. It was through some legal gymnastics that the Oxley house is to be preserved. I remember TCH leading the investigation about what LKY wanted done to the house. And, of course we all know the outcome even before the “official” report. So, yeah. What TCH has to… Read more »
Making a statement to slant Yang’s character is the most deceitful integrity SMEAR on his reputation which in any case there is none when he responded what do u think to a young boy. Sadness cannot be seen. IT’S ONLY A CHEAP statement NOT worth anyone SG shit to clean after done. And his sadness IS A FORM of CORRUPTION bcz like CORRUPTION it’s done hidden. CHeans sadness is UNSEEN. It’s PURE CUNNINGNESS to help Clean up Loong’s image after Hean LICK Loong’s balls. If Hean got the guts HE SHD and MUST HIGHLIGHT which part Yang did TO SADDEN… Read more »
$180m a year of taxpayers’ monies to write PAP propaganda. TCH lost his credibility using CPIB to clear Ridout. Do we still need him as Senior Minister at our costs? 38 Oxley belongs to LHY. Let him do whatever he wants with the house. State resources should not be used to resolve family disputes. Don’t make it a State issue.Disband the committee that was working towards preservation of the house. The facade is nothing out of the ordinary. So don’t waste taxpayers’ monies further to retain the property. Please tell us what criteria is used to measure the success of… Read more »
So Ah Teo is not saddened that his boss called Singaporeans ‘Free Riders’ when he bo liao to get a strong mandate??? Teo not saddened to the vote for 1G pap was 85+% but now pummeled to 61%. So sad for SG and Singaporeans that TCH is saddened over inappropriate things.
Who actually changed? LHY or LHL? Who is the one that could not follow their father’s will, yet drags his image out every year to evoke feelings of nostalgia from the populace?
Also who is praising LHL on his leadership? Certainly not anyone here and hopefully few in the far future.
Many of the issues he inherited from Mr “Non-mediocre” have not been resolved. Not to mention the new problems he’s created during his reign.
Ah loon : If he arrow me to do it, I will take the arrow …..
(To be continued) ….. and throw the arrow back to him.
What do you think?
Should be Happy .
LHY is out of the System .
Just ask those educated whether LHL has creditable personality!
Shitty times turns the so-called handover into such a big deal with the looony chap suffering from a massive bout of verbal diahorrea.
But Looony did not mention the bucket full of sh*t he leaves for lawless wong to tackle and solve.
Should he instead be saddened that their million$ salary does NOT prevent corruption??? Ministerial corruption blemishes the reputation of SG, while the LHY-LHL case blemishes only the reputation of his Boss. There we have it – given an opportunity to defend either SG reputation or Loong reputation, we see which one TCH chooses. Such a good doggie, hor?
Loong himself CANNOT have a Final RIP OFF – indecent protocol if he do it himself directly – so he ask his Faithful Dog – What Do U think – to give an official assessment misusing State Papers to portray Don’t-Know-Whose-Sadness as One Final Salvo before he rides his horse into Tuas sunset.
Why is he igniting old wounds?
Trying to win brownie points?
Now that Ah Loong is going to be “SM”, can this useless guy finally relinquish his SM role? I don’t understand the need in the first place for him to be “promoted” to SM. The ONLY qualification for the role that he satisfies is that he is “senior” as in OLD.
A faithful doggy who naps in parliowment and licks pinky’s balls nicely all these years.
What do you think?
Rich people’s problems..
Teo Chee Hean trying to be HONEST, behind a barrage of description of bla bla bla, corrupted with words. Who falls out from whom. Who discard who?
Conveniently HE BRAINWASHED Singaporeans because Loong holds the cards, Loong controlled the Judiciary, Loong pulled AG strings, Loong CONTROLLED the media.
CH is MISREPRESENTING to people to believe Loong is POWERLESS, eFF U.
Aiyaaah ,almost every family has problems like this..(.see the british royals.. prince harry & his father etc)
Whats so special about lhl & co..
So what if he is sg pm..
Humans after all..
Only one question was the the cause of all this dispute.
And the establishment ( you know who IS THE ESTABLISHMENT) makes everything so complicated.
So can ah Teo answer honestly to just one question?
Did Old Fart wanted to have his Oxley demolished, after he is gone and his daughter Wei Ling no longer wished to live there or has also passed away?
Bet such a simple question…this ah Teo would reply with another question to the questioner.
“So what do you think?”😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣😆😆😆
Anyone measures the SKIN THICKNESS of Chee Hean’s face. And the SIZE of his Balls, S M L or XL?
The Symphony is beginning to play, a very loud piece, but don’t sounds musically to discerning ears of critical audience. The expected repition of the goodness of Loong is echoing here and there. But not that they care what music there’s crackling the peace of Singaporeans WHO just wants to hear VOCALS. VOCALS loud and CLEAR how the PAP, 1 is going to REDUCE RUNAWAY inflation, a veg rice meal from $3 to $4 by now, 2 how SG can RETIRE in COMFORT discarding chocolates and chicken BONES, 3 RETURN SG to good jobs NOW STOLEN by FTrash courtesy of… Read more »
I threw up…
Exploiting the regime made news platform, to character and credibility assassinate a member of the Lee family, … because he can, and knowing full well, that that individual’s response will not be given an iota of public print space, anywhere in SillyPore, .. .. is the hallmark of an aged coward hiding behind this regime’s machinations of propaganda, politics gutter style and prolonged persecution !!! Shameful display of this regime’s power and it’s monopoly on managed and manipulated news cum events !!! Will this old fart feel an ounce of guilt for his choice of words, description and timing, …… Read more »
It is quite sad that Lee HY has fallen out with his elder brother over the handling of the house at the Oxley road n the handling of the will of the house Oxley road seemed to b quite complicated with the cousin handling it