Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of Singapore’s late founding father Lee Kuan Yew, has declared himself a political refugee in the United Kingdom, Al Jazeera reports.
Lee Hsien Yang, 67, announced on Tuesday that the UK government had granted him asylum, citing “persecution” in his home country. He has been estranged from his elder brother, Lee Hsien Loong, the former prime minister, for years. The rift centers around disagreements over the fate of their father’s home, a matter that has played out publicly.
Lee Hsien Yang, along with his late sister, Lee Wei Ling, accused their brother of abusing his power to prevent them from demolishing the family home, as per their father’s wishes. Lee Hsien Loong, however, believed the government should decide the home’s fate, potentially preserving it as a heritage landmark.
The younger Lee’s decision to seek asylum comes after he aligned himself with an opposition party during the 2020 election and considered running for the largely ceremonial position of Singapore’s presidency last year. In a Facebook post, he said he sought asylum in 2022 “as a last resort.”
The Singapore government has vehemently denied the allegations of persecution, calling them baseless and unfounded. In a statement, the government also refuted allegations of money laundering raised by Lee Hsien Yang in an interview with The Guardian, stating that the city-state has a robust system to combat such financial crimes.
Lee Hsien Yang’s move to the UK is likely to further strain relations between him and his brother, particularly as the elder Lee remains in the cabinet as a senior minister, a position once held by their father.
