PM Lee asks The Online Citizen to take down 'libellous' article on 38 Oxley Road, apologise
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has asked The Online Citizen (TOC) to remove an article and Facebook post repeating false allegations against him with regard to 38 Oxley Road, or face legal action.
In a letter to TOC chief editor Terry Xu yesterday, PM Lee's press secretary Chang Li Lin said the allegations in the Aug 15 article, "PM Lee's wife, Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members", and a post on TOC's Facebook page containing a link to the article are libellous.
PM Lee has asked Mr Xu to remove the article and post immediately and publish a "full and unconditional" apology by Wednesday.
Ms Chang said the article and post repeat several false allegations against PM Lee that were previously made by his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling.
The TOC article had commented on how PM Lee's wife, Ms Ho Ching, had shared a link on Facebook titled "Here's why sometimes it is okay to cut ties with toxic family members". That same TOC article also referenced a Facebook post that Dr Lee Wei Ling made in May.
Ms Chang said the TOC article and post allege that PM Lee misled his father, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, into thinking that the 38 Oxley Road property had been gazetted by the Government, and that it was futile for the founding prime minister to keep his direction to demolish it.
"PM Lee thereby allegedly caused Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who had originally wanted to demolish the house, to consider other alternatives to demolition, and to change his will to bequeath the house to PM Lee."
These allegations are "completely without foundation", Ms Chang said.
In July 2017, PM Lee gave a full explanation on matters related to 38 Oxley Road in Parliament, after his siblings made similar allegations and accused him and the Government of abuse of power, she noted.
PM Lee had reaffirmed that Mr Lee Kuan Yew's personal wish was for the 38 Oxley Road property to be demolished after his passing, Ms Chang said.
"However, after hearing Cabinet's unanimous views that the property should not be demolished, Mr Lee eventually came to accept that the Government was likely to preserve the property in the public interest.
"He was consequently prepared to be flexible and contemplate options short of demolition. With the rest of the family's knowledge, he approved plans to redevelop/renovate 38 Oxley Road to remove the private spaces."
PM Lee has also asked Mr Xu to publish a full and unconditional apology, plus an undertaking not to publish any similar allegations, prominently on TOC's website and Facebook timeline.
Checks found the article was no longer available on the TOC website as of 7.15pm yesterday, but the Facebook post was still up. Mr Xu could not be reached for comment by press time.
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