Lee Hsien Loong has lost big this time, not only was his character compromised from his open ruthlessness against his own siblings, his government turned out to be a group of cronies doing his bidding. The credit has to go to Lee Hsien Yang, who timed his responses very shrewdly, no less politically astute as his father Lee Kuan Yew.
Strategic Alliance
What Lee Hsien Yang has been saying these few days are clearly skilfully planned. Lee Hsien Yang first letter was co-signed by Lee Wei Ling – the very same person Lee Hsien Loong tried to set him up against. The alliance is golden as Lee Wei Ling provided fire support covering Lee Hsien Yang when the elder brother lied in public claiming that he and Ho Ching (the middle finger monkey lady) are “protecting” her.
I-am-the-victim
Also in his first letter, Lee Hsien Yang played the victim card telling a sob story saying that he is fearful and is forced to leave his hometown. Hold on, in these few days Lee Hsien Yang certainly did not behave as fearful as he claimed himself to be – nonetheless he won our sympathy votes.
Removing “independent” third parties
He also planted two names in his letter: Minister Lawrence Wong and Attorney-General Lucien Wong, outright de-legitimatising the government and cancelling out third parties who pretend to be independent. No single PAP Minister dare speak a word about this, and the older ones like Teo Chee Hean and Goh Chok Tong are suddenly very mild in their comments.
Baiting
Lee Hsien Yang fired the first shot and patiently waited, knowing that the elder brother is impatient and would conduct a political suicide: making statements overseas through local proxies. Many coups succeeded when the leader is out of the country, and Lee Hsien Yang’s letter is timely, right in the middle of the week where Lee Hsien Loong barely have time to rest after he took a 10 hour flight to Sydney. The letter is a bait and Lee Hsien Loong fell for it.
Escape route
Lee Hsien Loong imploded by releasing the full 49 paragraphs of his statements, giving Lee Hsien Yang the upper hand to freely pick a single argument that is to his advantage. What a class move in the art of war. Lee Hsien Yang even prepared his escape with a deliberate announcement that his preparation to leave the country is completed – Lee Hsien Loong barring him to leave now equates to outright dictatorship. Escape route ticked.
Double-binding
The last move of Lee Hsien Yang is a beautiful offense: using Lee Hsien Loong’s words against himself. One example is when Lee Hsien Loong started off claiming that the house is a private matter. A day later, a “Ministerial Committee”, which in essence is a public resource, is created to resolve the private matter. Lee Hsien Yang has skilfully clutched Lee Hsien Loong by his balls, trapping the Prime Minister into a double bind situation.
The real gauntlet: Full Damage
Amidst all of his chained strategies, Lee Hsien Yang patiently waited and from his smoke and mirrors deliver the final nail into Lee Hsien Loong’s coffin: Lee Hsien Loong lied in his statutory declaration and hence should be charged under the law. Lee Hsien Yang today (Jun 16) threw the bombshell that he kept in secret:
“Stamford Law did not draft any will for LKY. The will was drafted by Kwa Kim Li of Lee & Lee. Paragraph 7 of the Will was drafted at LKY’s direction, and put into language by Lee Suet Fern his daughter in law and when he was satisfied he asked Kim Li to insert it into his will. On LKY’s express instructions in writing, two lawyers from Stamford Law were called upon to witness his signing of the will. The Estate of LKY instructed Stamford Law to extract probate. Ng Joo Khin’s role in that was to read the will to the beneficiaries.”
Despite their claim of non-corruption, the Singapore Police dare not act. Neither did the big mouthed Law Minister K Shanmugam, when clearly a criminal act has taken place. Lee Hsien Loong’s well-sang “corruption-free” and “meritocracy” is evidently lacking. Ouch, it hurts.
All delivery were done through Facebook, by-passing the Lee Hsien Loong-controlled media. Lee Hsien Yang posted more on his page in the 3 days than the 3 years he has been on Facebook. Lee Hsien Yang chose his delivery very wisely because going to Straits Times means getting a watered-down version.
Lee Hsien Loong’s person, government, police, judiciary, Attorney General, Ministers and even government-controlled media Straits Times are all whacked by this shrewd son of Lee Kuan Yew. He even made it world news, and all he took was 3 days. What a bloody genius.
States Times Review Editor
Alex Tan