Lee Hsien Yang joins PSP, but won't commit on election bid
He says he believes in party's vision and lends full support to Tan Cheng Bok
Mr Lee Hsien Yang, estranged brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has joined Dr Tan Cheng Bock's Progress Singapore Party (PSP), the party announced yesterday.
At a breakfast meeting at Tiong Bahru Food Centre, Dr Tan presented Mr Lee with a membership card. Dr Tan said Mr Lee has been a member "for quite some time", but due to the Covid-19 situation, they were unable to have a proper membership card presentation ceremony.
The Straits Times had reported yesterday that Mr Lee had joined the party, but party sources said he was unlikely to be fielded as a candidate at the upcoming election.
Asked if he would be standing for election, Mr Lee replied: "When I'm ready to disclose that, you will find out."
On why he joined the party, he said: "I think that Dr Tan is committed to doing the right thing for Singapore and Singaporeans, and he loves the country. He has brought together a group of people who share his vision, and it is a vision which I believe will build a better Singapore."
Dr Tan noted there were many ways Mr Lee could contribute to the party.
"He is not just an ordinary person. His father is the founder of Singapore, you know, so that's very important.
"And the fact (that) he has decided to join us is a clear indication the current (Government) didn't follow what his dad wanted."
TANJONG PAGAR
The market where Dr Tan and Mr Lee met is located within Tanjong Pagar GRC, a stronghold of his late father, Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. It is also one of nine constituencies the PSP has said it will be contesting in this election.
Later in the evening, Mr Lee appeared in a brief online broadcast, appealing to Singaporeans to volunteer with the PSP and donate generously.
He said: "The PAP has lost its way. My sister Wei Ling shares this view too. In fact, she said so in a Facebook post in August 2016 before Oxleygate...
"It's possible to be loyal Singaporeans, to be proud of what has been accomplished in the past, to recite with pride 'we the citizens of Singapore', to love Singapore and yet to not vote PAP."
He has been embroiled in a long-running feud with PM Lee over the fate of their father's house in Oxley Road.
Mr Lee's emergence comes a day after Parliament was dissolved and the Writ of Election was issued.
Nomination Day is on June 30 and Polling Day on July 10. Dr Tan said yesterday he thought the timing of the election was "irresponsible" and potentially puts a lot of the elderly in a dangerous situation.
"The signs are there, it is so clear. And if they don't want to heed the signs, then the price they (will) have to pay. As I said before, they might win this battle but they are going to lose the war."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: KOK YUFENG
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