Lee Hsien Yang, youngest son of Singapore founder, claims asylum in the UK
Al Jazeera
Lee Hsien Yang says he was granted asylum due to Singapore’s ‘persecution’ against him and his family.
The youngest son of Singapore‘s late founding father has declared that he is now a political refugee in the United Kingdom, marking the latest development in the high-profile feud within the city-state’s most prominent family.
Lee Hsien Yang said on Tuesday that the UK government granted him asylum from what he described as “persecution” at home.
Lee and his sister Lee Wei Ling, who died on October 9, have for years been estranged from influential elder brother Lee Hsien Loong, who was prime minister for two decades until May this year. The rift centred around disagreements over the fate of their father’s home following his death in 2015.
The frayed relationship has played out publicly, with the younger Lee, 67, aligning himself with an opposition party during the 2020 election and last year saying he was considering running for the Singapore presidency, a largely ceremonial post.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Lee Hsien Yang said that he sought asylum in 2022 “as a last resort,” which the UK granted him in August.
