Singapore’s government on Tuesday ordered Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s estranged brother to correct a Facebook post, saying it contained falsehoods over a house rental controversy involving two senior ministers.
Lee Hsien Yang, 65, was directed to add a correction notice to his original post stating that it “contains false statements of fact”.
The notice must also contain a link that directs the reader to what the government says are the correct facts.
Lee Hsien Yang’s post related to a controversy over the rental of sprawling colonial bungalows by the foreign affairs and law ministers, who have both been cleared of any wrongdoing following two investigations.
The issue sparked an outcry in the city-state, where most of the population lives in government-built high-rise apartments.
The Lee siblings have been at odds after the death in 2015 of their father, modern Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, over what to do with a historic family bungalow after his passing.
Lee Hsien Yang and his sister, Lee Wei Ling, have accused their prime minister brother of going against their father’s wish to have the house demolished.
They accused him of trying to capitalise on their father’s legacy to build a dynasty — a charge Lee Hsien Loong, 71, has rejected.
Under a law against online falsehoods passed in 2019, the government can order correction notices to be issued on what it deems to be false statements posted on social media.
Lee Hsien Yang complied and posted the correction notice late Tuesday along with the link on his Facebook page.
But he also put up a a new post saying, “I stand by what I said” and alleged that the government’s correction order was “misleading”.
He and his wife left Singapore in June last year amid police investigations for potential offences related to the family feud.
He has accused his older brother’s government of persecution.
The couple, reportedly living in Europe, did not return to Singapore even after his father-in-law’s death on July 8.
