Deed of gift for LKY items given to PM Lee in his official capacity: Lawrence Wong
Published: 6:39 PM, June 23, 2017
Updated: 6:46 PM, June 23, 2017
SINGAPORE — National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said on Friday (Jun 23) that the deed of gift for items belonging to founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew — which were donated to the National Heritage Board (NHB) — was given to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his official capacity.
And if PM Lee had asked for the information in his private capacity, “he would have been entitled to know about the exhibition and the items from the estate, given his position as the eldest son of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew and beneficiary of the estate”, Mr Wong said.
Given that the items were displayed in “a major public exhibition by the NHB concerning Singapore’s founding leaders” including Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Wong said that the event was “a matter for deliberation by the Government”.
“It would therefore be normal and in order, that the Prime Minister be kept informed about the contents and presentation of the exhibition,” he said, adding that he will give “fuller explanation on the matter” when Parliament sits on July 3.
Seeking to clear the air on issues surrounding the deed, Mr Wong noted the “several misperceptions” being circulated, although he did not specify what these were. Earlier, PM Lee’s siblings – Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang – had said that they executed the deed in 2015, following Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death, for the donation and public exhibition of “significant items” from the Lee family home at 38 Oxley Road, “with a stipulation that Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for the demolition of 38 Oxley Road be displayed prominently at the exhibition”.
But after the gift’s acceptance, they “soon received letters with spurious objections from Hsien Loong’s then personal lawyer, Lucien Wong“. Among other things, Mr Lucien Wong cited PM Lee’s objections to clauses “restricting how NHB may display” the items, and these unduly hamper the agency’s work.
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