Singapore—Early on Monday morning, April 8, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s brother, Lee Hsien Yang, took to social media to announce that his wife Lee Suet Fern, would be represented by former Singapore Attorney-General, Prof Walter Woon.
He wrote, “The AGC recently brought a complaint against my wife to the legal disciplinary tribunal. The complaint repeats allegations that Lee Hsien Loong made years ago through his personal lawyer, Lucien Wong, now the Attorney General.
Former Singapore Attorney-General, Prof Walter Woon, has agreed to act for my wife, Suet Fern. I am delighted to have him on board. We look forward to his legal guidance and wise counsel. He will further strengthen the defence team of Abraham Vergis and his team at Providence Law Asia.”
The case against Lee Suet Fern
On January 7, 2019, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) referred a case to the Law Society over possible misconduct by Lee Suet Fern, in the preparation of the last will of Lee Kuan Yew, her father-in-law and the founding Prime Minister of Singapore.
The case had nothing to do with the validity of the will, the AGC explained.
The AGC stated its statutory duty to deal with misconduct from lawyers, and under section 85(3) of the Legal Profession Act, the AGC said it was required to consider if the issue should be brought to the attention of the Law Society.
Lee Hsien Yang asked, via a Facebook post on January 10, what public interest was being served by the AGC. He also asked, since all parties had been aware of the facts for years, why his wife’s case was being “rushed” in 2019.
He asked the AGC to publish its full correspondence with Lee Suet Fern, claiming that the AGC’s statement that she had refused to respond to them is not true.
The AGC’s side
The Attorney General claimed, “In this case, AGC became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by Ms Lee. Ms Lee appears to have prepared the Last Will of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and arranged for Mr Lee Kuan Yew to execute it, despite the fact that her husband, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, is one of the beneficiaries under the Last Will.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s share increased under the Last Will. AGC also noted that Mr Lee Hsien Yang had said publicly that the Last Will was drafted by Ms Kwa Kim Lee of M/s Lee & Lee. However, Ms Kwa Kim Lee has denied that she drafted it.”
Citing the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules, the AGC said that lawyers should not place themselves in a position of conflict. “Where a person intends to make a significant gift by will to any member of the lawyer’s family, the lawyer must not act for the person and must advise him to obtain independent advice in respect of the gift. This rule applies even if the lawyer is related to the person making the gift.”
Lee Hsien Yang’s responses to the AGC
However, Lee Hsien Yang denied that his wife had ever been Lee Kuan Yew’s lawyer. He wrote, “My wife was never Lee Kuan Yew’s lawyer. Our father’s private will was executed some 5 years ago. Our father informed his entire family and his lawyers at Lee & Lee when he completed his will and kept his will at Lee & Lee.
This was his re-signing of his 2011 will in which Minister Shanmugam was involved. Lee & Lee had been our father’s lawyers for all his wills since his first will in 1995. That first will was drafted by our mother, Kwa Geok Choo, who was then the principal beneficiary under our father’s will.
No one has complained from the outset on the process and circumstances of our father’s signing his final will – not Lee Kuan Yew, not his estate which stands in his shoes after his death, not any of the beneficiaries, including Lee Hsien Loong, who was advised by Lucien Wong, now AG. The will was proven in court in 2015 with no issues raised; all parties have acted in accordance with the will since then.”
http://theindependent.sg/lee-hsien-yang-says-former-ag-walter-woon-will-represent-lee-suet-fern/
LOL Mr Incredible? Yeah sure Mr Incredibly FAT FUCK.
Holy crap, is he Mr Incredible?
Wow his son on the right is ultra bui bui.......
He sure fed his sons well.
Prosecutor in Lee Suet Fern’s case is the father of two men who served jail time for dodging NS
The Law Society revealed this week that Senior Counsel and WongPartnership deputy chairman Tan Chee Meng will prosecute the case involving Lee Suet Fern before a disciplinary tribunal.
Earlier the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) submitted a 500-page complaint against Mrs Lee, over possible “professional misconduct”. The AGC said that Lee is believed to have prepared the founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s last will even though her husband, Lee Hsien Yang who is the former PM’s son, is one of the beneficiaries of the will.
Attorney-General Lucien Wong, who is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s former personal lawyer, recused himself from the case. A disciplinary tribunal is now set to look into any possible misconduct by Mrs Lee in the preparation of the last will of her late father-in-law.
While Mr Tan is set to prosecute the case, Mrs Lee’s camp will see Professor Walter Woon – Senior Counsel and former attorney-general – to act for Mrs Lee. In an interview with the national broadsheet, Prof Woon said that he agreed to do so since Mrs Lee is an “old friend.”
In the same article, Mr Tan said: “My role as prosecuting counsel for LawSoc is to present the facts objectively, and the decision rests with the tribunal.”
After news of Mr Tan’s role in the case broke, some netizens online pointed out that Mr Tan is the father of two Singaporean men who served jail time for dodging National Service (NS).
In 2017, Mr Tan’s sons, Jonathan and Isaac Tan, were sentenced to 16 weeks’ and 12 weeks’ jail for defaulting on their NS obligations. The older son, Jonathan, evaded NS for about a decade while the younger Isaac defaulted on NS for about six years.
In an interview with ST then, Mr Tan said that “NS was the last thing on our minds, let alone evasion” when he decided that his family would migrate to Canada in 2000. Mr Tan’s wife, his two sons and his daughter migrated to Canada with no intention of returning to Singapore while Mr Tan stayed behind due to a lack of employment opportunities abroad.
He added that he was “very proud of” his sons when they decided on their own in 2015 that they wanted to serve NS. Jonathan and Isaac were 26 and 23 respectively when they made this decision. All Singaporean males are required to enlist in NS at the age of 18.
Both brothers were charged for evading NS when they returned to Singapore. Both brothers were accused of remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit and of failing to comply with the Further Reporting Order.
After he was sentenced to jail, Jonathan decided to appeal the sentence but later withdrew the appeal. In a later interview with ST, Mr Tan said: “As a father, it is heart breaking to see my sons go to jail in circumstances such as these. I take responsibility for what happened and the law has to take its course.
http://theindependent.sg/prosecutor-in-lee-suet-ferns-case-is-the-father-of-two-men-who-served-jail-time-for-dodging-ns/
Couldn't agree more with what you just articulated. From first world back to third under the mediocre, petty leadership of a dishonourable son.
Merely a few years after Ah Gong ascended to the heavens, Sinkapore started sinking big time. Our country is now the butt of jokes within the international community because his kids weren't sufficiently sensible to appreciate that 家丑不可外扬.
Last time it was brother vs brother, then wife vs wife, now AG vs AG.
#supportwhooncehadaminah
The Lees 互相残杀 provide way better entertainment than Game of Thrones.