(Bloomberg) — The estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has been given political asylum by the UK government on grounds of a “well-founded fear” of persecution.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Lee Hsien Yang, 67, said in a Facebook post he had become a “political refugee” as he and his late sister “feared the abuse of the organs of the Singapore state against us” after a very public feud over the fate of a home that belonged to their father and the country’s first leader Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Hsien Yang said he applied for asylum back in 2022.
The UK approved the former Singapore Telecommunications CEO’s asylum request in August and he is permitted to remain in the country for five years, according to a letter from the Home Office shared by Lee Hsien Yang. He has lived in self-imposed exile in Europe since June 2022 following a police investigation against him and his wife over the handling of the last will of his father.
The revelation over Lee Hsien Yang’s asylum is the latest twist in a bitter family feud that centers over a yearslong disagreement over whether to demolish their family home. The dispute resurfaced this month after the death of his sister Lee Wei Ling who was living at the colonial-era house at 38 Oxley Road near Singapore’s glitzy shopping district.
“There are no legal restraints on Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern returning to Singapore,” the government said in a 12-page response to media queries regarding the asylum. “They are and have always been free to return to Singapore.”
Lee Hsien Yang didn’t return to the city-state for his sister’s funeral and is now seeking permission from the authorities to demolish the house. He wants to build a small private residence to honor his parents’ last wishes.
Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped aside as prime minister in May after two decades in power, was accused by his younger siblings of attempting to undermine their father’s instructions to demolish the house, in part through the creation of a 2018 ministerial committee exploring options for the property.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
