Parliament as a forum to address Oxley-squabble questioned

The Prime Minister took to Facebook yesterday to apologise to Singaporeans over the Oxley-squabble. He acknowledged that the dispute has affected Singapore’s reputation and Singaporeans’ confidence in the Government.

He said that Mr Lee Kuan Yew left the property at 38 Oxley Road to him as part of his equal share of his estate, but his siblings were not happy about this. He added that he failed in his attempts to deal with their unhappiness privately.

https://theindependent.sg.sg/siblings-were-unhappy-that-lee-kuan-yew-left-oxley-house-to-eldest-son-pm-lee/

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has responded to his older brother’s video address to the country and said that his sister and him never had any objections to PM Lee receiving an equal share of the estate. What they objected to was PM Lee’s “flip-flopping about Lee Kuan Yew’s demolition wish.”

He reminded PM Lee that the simple question of if Lee Kuan Yew was unwavering in his demolition wish, has not been addressed by the Prime Minister in his replies on the matter.

Mr Tan Jee Say in the meantime has suggested that Parliament may not be the right forum to address the accusations levelled at the Prime Minister.

In a WhatsApp message he said that only Dr Lee Wei Ling, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern can effectively reply to the Prime Minister because only they have all the facts and the documentary evidence on the matter.

He pointed out that being non-Parliamentarians, they cannot reply to the Prime Minister and the others, and that this would be grossly unfair to them.

Mr Tan said that the law also allows a Parliamentarian to be protected from whatever he said in Parliament from defamation lawsuits. This meant that a Parliamentarian can call anyone a liar and not be sued for it.

He believes that it is better to have an independent public inquiry that is televised live.

Mr Tan is the former principal private secretary of Singapore’s ex-Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong. He was also a candidate for the 2011 Presidential Election and contested the 2011 and 2015 General Elections.