Singapore Lee Family Feud Goes Public on Facebook: QuickTake Q&A

Singapore is a small but wealthy Southeast Asian island state with a reputation for order and control. So imagine the dismay when its most famous family gets involved in a very public feud -- on Facebook. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his two younger siblings are embroiled in a spat that centers on the fate of the house that belonged to their late father, the country’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. It marks a rare public display of acrimony from a family that’s been at the forefront of Singapore’s establishment since its independence in 1965 -- a family that largely kept private any discord before the elder Lee’s death in 2015.

It centers on 38 Oxley Road, a colonial-era bungalow near the Orchard Road shopping belt. Lee Kuan Yew lived there for most of his 91 years. His will included a wish -- one that the prime minister says appeared in early versions of the will, was removed and then added to the final will -- for the property to be demolished eventually. All three children have said they want to honor that request, but the two younger siblings have accused Prime Minister Lee of maneuvering behind the scenes to undermine their father’s instructions. They cite the existence of a ministerial committee that is considering options for the house. The prime minister denies those allegations and isn’t part of the committee.