No political ambitions for my son: PM Lee
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday refuted allegations by his younger siblings that he harbours political ambitions for his son Li Hongyi.
Such a claim is "absurd", PM Lee said in a statement responding to Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling.
"I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations that they have made. Ho Ching and I deny these allegations, especially the absurd claim that I have political ambitions for my son," said PM Lee.
He did not name his son in the statement, but his younger siblings had publicly accused him and his wife, Madam Ho Ching, of using Mr Lee Kuan Yew's legacy for their own political purposes - and that included harbouring political ambitions for Mr Li Hongyi.
PM Lee has a daughter, Li Xiuqi, and a son, Li Yipeng, from his first marriage.
He married Madam Ho Ching in 1985, and they have two sons, Mr Li Hongyi and Mr Li Haoyi.
PM Lee had previously said in interviews that his children were not keen on entering politics.
I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate allegations... Ho Ching and I deny these allegations, especially the absurd claim that I have political ambitions for my son.Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
In an interview with a Chinese television station in Beijing in November 2014, PM Lee said none of his children were interested in politics.
"They have to find their own path in life," he said when asked if he was steering them towards politics. "They have to choose, because a child's personality and aptitude have to be taken into consideration."
In a 2012 interview at the World Economic Forum, PM Lee was asked if his children would enter politics.
"They have to decide for themselves. At this point in time, the odds are not on it. They have so many opportunities - internships, job offers, the world is their oyster."
Mr Li Hongyi, 30, is in the public service. He is the deputy director of the Government Digital Services Data Science Division of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, a statutory board under the Prime Minister's Office.
He studied at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Raffles Junior College.
In 2006, he won the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science and received a Public Service Commission Overseas Merit Scholarship, a top government scholarship, to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.
After graduating, he worked in Google for two years from 2011 to 2013, before returning to serve a six-year bond, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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