Lee and son deny impropriety in dealings
Lee and son deny impropriety in dealings
SINGAPORE (AFP): Elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew and his son
Deputy Premier Lee Hsien Loong denied any impropriety and
defended their family honor in a parliamentary debate yesterday
on discounts they got on luxury condominiums.
The 72-year-old former premier, still recovering from a heart
operation in March, spoke on his feet for more than an hour to
reject market rumors that they got special treatment from a
property developer.
"I have to meet you in person to tell you the facts and give
you the opportunity to decide whether I have become a different
person," Lee told the parliament in a rambling, sometimes
emotional address.
"Let's grow up," he exclaimed at one point. "I am what I am
and I'm here after 37 years in office because I have never taken
advantage financially of my position."
Lee said that "at no stage did my wife or I feel we were doing
anything irregular or improper. They were open and above-board
transactions."
Lee, who stepped down after 31 years as premier in 1990 and
holds the title of senior minister, said "there is nothing to
hide" and described discounts as normal practice in the property
market
Satisfied
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told parliament he was satisfied
"there was no impropriety" after looking into the deals and never
doubted Lee's integrity.
"He has given his whole life to build this country and the
whole world knows us for our reputation for being clean," said
Goh, who heads the world's highest-paid cabinet.
Despite being cleared earlier by Goh, the Lees have announced
that they will donate the discounts to charity to erase any
doubts about the transactions.
Lee said his greatest contributions to Singapore were its
"financial integrity" and clean government. He said he left
personal financial matters to his wife Kwa Geok Choo, a
successful lawyer and experienced property investor.
They paid S$3.57 million (US$2.55 million) on one unit at an
exclusive development, Nassim Jade, after a seven-percent
discount also given to other early buyers, he said.
It was bought for his possible use in old age, when he might
have difficulty living in his three-level house, he said.
They paid S$2.79 million after a five-percent discount on a
unit at another project, Scotts 28, and plan to rent it out, he
said.
Both are projects of Hotel Properties Ltd. (HPL), which was
reprimanded by the stock exchange last month for delays in
reporting discounted sales to its directors and their kin. Lee's
brother Lee Suan Yew is an HPL director. The Lees publicly disclosed their purchases after the director
was named in press reports about the reprimand.
Deputy Premier Lee, 44, told parliament he paid S$3.64 million
for a unit at Nassim Jade, and S$2.77 million for a unit at
Scotts 28. He got a 12-percent discount on the first unit and
five percent on the second.
The junior Lee, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1992 but was
later cured, said he and his wife decided to invest in property
for their children's sake.
"These are really private matters which I am under no
obligation to disclose publicly," he said. "But I have explained
them to dispel any lingering mystery or doubt over my
purchases ...," he said.