Back in 2017, a real-life Singapore family drama more exciting than Korea’s Crash Landing On You happened.
It was a dispute over this property.
Yes, 38 Oxley Road.
The dispute happened between Lee Kuan Yew’s three children and their contention over the fate of the house, among many other things.
After a long and bitter public debate, including the setup of a ministerial committee, things came to a quiet end on Apr 2018.
But in Jan 2019, the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) referred a case of “possible professional misconduct” to the Law Society.
They accused Mrs Lee Suet Fern, the wife of Mr Lee Hsien Yang and a lawyer, of manipulating Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will.
Nothing more was heard from the matter and everyone forgot about it.
Until today, that is.
Levelling Two Charges
On 24 Feb 2020, it was reported that the tribunal is levelling two charges against Mrs Lee:
- A conflict of interest where a lawyer should not prepare a will if a family member will benefit significantly from it;
- For failing to ask Mr Lee Kuan Yew to seek the counsel of another lawyer because she has a conflict of interest.
She will face the Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body to deal with lawyers’ misconduct.
If guilty, she could be fined, have her license suspended, or even revoked.
Couple Allegedly Arranged & Rushed Late Mr Lee Into Signing Final Will
The tribunal claimed that Mrs Lee, together with her husband Mr Lee Hsien Yang, had arranged for the late Mr Lee to revoke the sixth version of the will and execute a new one.
They allegedly told him not to wait for Ms Kwa Kim Li, Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s original lawyer who prepared his will, and that Stamford Law, her law firm, can “handle the matter”.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang has also allegedly removed Ms Kwa from the email correspondence.
Then they arranged for their own lawyers from Stamford Law to witness the signing of his last will.
A Different “Original Agreed Upon” Draft
On 13 Dec 2013, Mrs Lee allegedly sent an email containing the “original agreed upon” draft of Mr Lee’s will.
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However, the tribunal pointed out that the draft she sent had differences with the first version of Mr Lee’s will.
Here are the differences:
- A gift-over clause was excluded
- A provision for Mr Lee Hsien Loong to pay for the maintenance of the house while his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling stays at the house
- An unrestricted right for Dr Lee Wei Ling to stay at the house, as compared to a conditional right in the previous version
- A demolition clause was inserted
The tribunal was also puzzled over why Mr Lee Kuan Yew will unexpectedly revert to his original will when there are five versions in between.
“I Wasn’t Acting As A Lawyer”
Mrs Lee Suet Fern said she disagrees with the tribunal’s findings and will fight it out in “open court”.
Her defence team insists that Mr Lee Kuan Yew knew what he wanted.
They claimed that he wanted to revert to his original will in 2011 which gives equal shares to his three children, she claims.
In addition, Ms Kwa was informed before and after the signing of the final will.
When Ms Kwa was uncontactable, they said that it was Mr Lee Kuan Yew who told Mr Lee Hsien Yang to “get it done”.
The couple added that Ms Kwa had 15 months to dispute the will but did not.
