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Thank you, TODAY, for updating your piece to include my response to what some politicians claim.
“In response to TODAY’s queries, Mr Vadaketh said that the e-book is the product of a year of research by a team of researchers and himself and is “exhaustively footnoted”.
It does not include any primary interviews, said Mr Vadaketh, as he did not want to interview only a select few family members, which he believes would be a biased approach.
“Instead, it is based almost entirely on the compilation of affidavits, pleadings, formal documents and submissions from the Law Society of Singapore versus Lee Suet Fern case, which is rich source material,” he said.
Mr Vadaketh added that the Supreme Court had approved his request to access the case file for work on the book.
Any citizen who wishes to access the source material, which was referenced throughout, can make an application through the Supreme Court, he said.
Mr Vadaketh said that his main conclusions based on the available evidence were that:
Mr Lee Kuan Yew wanted his entire house at 38 Oxley Road demolished — nothing else — but he was aware that it might not be.
Madam Ho Ching and Mrs Lee Suet Fern, Lee Kuan Yew’s daughters-in-law, Ms Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang “have been unfairly judged in this matter by their respective public critics”
The formation and findings of the Ministerial Committee on 38 Oxley Road are, in Mr Vadaketh’s view, “problematic”
One point in Mr Teo’s parliamentary statement which Mr Vadaketh said was erroneous was that of the alleged lies under oath by Mrs Lee Suet Fern and Mr Lee Hsien Yang.
“I urge readers to go to pages 28 and 29 of my book, where I lay out clearly the Court of Three Judges’ findings, including the alleged inaccuracies offered by Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Suet Fern,” he said.
Another point in Mr Teo’s reply that Mr Vadaketh took issue with was regarding whether Mr Lee Kuan Yew wanted the Oxley house demolished and had included a clause on this in his last will.
Mr Vadaketh said that on page 20 of his book, he had stated clearly that there was no record of Mr Lee Kuan Yew having asked anybody for the demolition clause to be reinserted in the seventh and last will.
“Also, at no point do I say that Lee Suet Fern advised Lee Kuan Yew about reinserting the Demolition Clause,” he said.
However, Mr Vadaketh said that Ms Lee Wei Ling, who was the only child living with Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had sent an email on Dec 16, 2013, saying “Papa says go back to 2011 will”.
This refers to the first will which includes the Demolition Clause, said Mr Vadaketh, adding that this was on pages 35 and 70 of his book.”
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E-book on Lee Kuan Yew’s will contains inaccuracies ‘calculated to mislead’ and ‘completely at odds’ with court findings: SM Teo
02 Mar 2023 05:35PM (Updated: 02 Mar 2023 06:58PM)
SINGAPORE: An e-book titled The Battle Over Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will contains several inaccuracies “calculated to mislead” and that are “completely at odds” with court findings, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean said on Thursday (Mar 2).
The e-book, written by local author Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh and published in July last year, is about the debate over the late prime minister’s will and home at 38 Oxley Road, which led to disciplinary proceedings against Mrs Lee Suet Fern, the wife of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s son Lee Hsien Yang.
The examination of the case against Mrs Lee was done by the Court of Three Judges (C3J), the highest disciplinary body for the legal profession, in November 2020 and a Disciplinary Tribunal (DT) in February 2020. She was found guilty of professional misconduct.
“The book is not credible, as it totally ignores the facts and findings which had been established, after an objective and thorough examination of the case,” said Mr Teo, who was the chair of a Ministerial Committee that had been set up to look into what should be done with the property after Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death.
“It is clear that the assertions in his book are calculated to mislead, as they are completely at odds with the findings and conclusions of the Court of Three Judges and the Disciplinary Tribunal,” he added.
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In his answer to Mr Zhulkarnain’s question, Mr Teo laid out several examples of inaccuracies in the book:
What the courts found
On whether Mrs Lee made an “innocent mistake”
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On Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s will
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E-book on Lee Kuan Yew’s will contains inaccuracies ‘calculated to mislead’ and ‘completely at odds’ with court findings: SM Teo
By Charlene Goh
Published March 2, 2023
Updated March 2, 2023
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Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and chair of a ministerial committee that had been set up to look into what should be done with the property after Lee Kuan Yew’s death, said: “The book is not credible, as it totally ignores the facts and findings which had been established, after an objective and thorough examination of the case.”
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He added: “It is clear that the assertions in his book are calculated to mislead, as they are completely at odds with the findings and conclusions of the Court of Three Judges and the disciplinary tribunal.”
Mr Teo was giving a written response to Member of Parliament Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim for Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency, who had asked a parliamentary question on whether the book accurately represents the circumstances surrounding the signing of the late former prime minister’s will.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/e-book-lee-kuan-yews-will-contains-inaccuracies-calculated-mislead-and-completely-odds-court-findings-sm-teo-2120541?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Suet Fern face police probe for lying under oath about Lee Kuan Yew’s will
Senior Political Correspondent
Updated 19 Mins Ago
SINGAPORE – The police have opened investigations into Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife Lee Suet Fern for potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament on Thursday.
The couple have left Singapore after refusing to go for a police interview which they had initially agreed to attend, Mr Teo said in a written reply.
The Court of Three Judges and a disciplinary tribunal had in 2020 found that the couple had lied under oath during disciplinary proceedings against Mrs Lee over her handling of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will.
Mrs Lee had been referred to a disciplinary tribunal by the Law Society over her role in the preparation and execution of the last will of the late Mr Lee, her father-in-law, who died on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91.
His last will differed from his sixth and penultimate will in significant ways, and did not contain some changes he had wanted and discussed with his lawyer Kwa Kim Li four days earlier.
Among the differences was a demolition clause – relating to the demolition of his 38 Oxley Road house after his death – which had not been in the sixth or penultimate will but was in the last.
This had sparked a complaint by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to the Law Society about possible professional misconduct on Mrs Lee’s part, and a disciplinary tribunal was convened to hear the case.
After finding her guilty of grossly improper professional conduct, the tribunal referred the case to the Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body to deal with lawyers’ misconduct.
Mr Teo noted on Thursday that both the court and the tribunal had found that Mr Lee and Mrs Lee lied under oath.
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Besides finding that Mr Lee and Mrs Lee had lied under oath, the court and the tribunal had also found that the couple had misled the late Mr Lee in the context of the execution of his last will, added Mr Teo.
Given this, he said, the court and the tribunal had concluded that Mrs Lee was guilty of misconduct.
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Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife Mrs Lee Suet Fern left Singapore and remain out of the country during the police’s investigations, says Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.
02 Mar 2023 05:18PM (Updated: 02 Mar 2023 06:40PM)
SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, lawyer Lee Suet Fern, are being investigated by the police for potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings over Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s will.
As part of the investigations, the police requested an interview with the couple, and they initially agreed to attend the interview, said Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean in a written parliamentary answer on Thursday (Mar 2).
But the couple later had a change of heart and refused to attend the interview, Mr Teo said.
The police have advised them to reconsider taking part in investigations, but they have since left Singapore and remain out of the country.
“The police have also informed them that the necessary steps would be taken to complete the investigations in their absence,” the Senior Minister said, adding that the couple’s refusal to attend the interview was disappointing.
CNA has asked the police for an update on the current state of the investigations.
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