Controversies
As the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Lee's career has been shadowed by allegations of nepotism. At the age of 32, he became the youngest brigadier-general in Singaporean history, and from a young age was widely tipped to be Lee Kuan Yew's successor as Prime Minister. When Lee Kuan Yew stepped down as Prime Minister to make way for his successor, Goh Chok Tong, several critics had seen Goh as a seat-warmer, but Lee Kuan Yew said he had disproved that. In his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew stressed that he could not have his son directly succeed him.
"It was better that someone else succeed me as Prime Minister. Then were Loong to make the grade later, it would be clear that he made it on his own merit."
However, such allegations by critics held on for six to seven years until Goh managed to prove his worth by regaining seats and pushing up the PAP's vote share in the 1997 elections. The appointment of Lee's wife Ho Ching as the director of state investment agency Temasek Holdings has also raised some eyebrows.
The Lees have reacted strongly against these allegations by taking legal action, often winning large out-of-court settlements for defamation from, among others, the International Herald Tribune (1994), Bloomberg (2002), The Economist (2004) and the Financial Times (2007).
Read more about this topic: Lee Hsien Loong