PM's son Li Hongyi says he is not interested in politics

Mr Li Hongyi is now deputy director of the Government Digital Services Data Science Division of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore.
Mr Li Hongyi is now deputy director of the Government Digital Services Data Science Division of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore. ST FILE PHOTO:

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's son, Mr Li Hongyi, 30, said yesterday he is not interested in politics, a day after his uncle and aunt accused his parents of harbouring political ambitions for him.

In a brief Facebook post yesterday, he said: "For what it is worth, I really have no interest in politics."

PM Lee had on Wednesday also refuted the allegations made in a statement by his siblings, Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang.

The duo's six-page statement centred on the tussle over the house of their late father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

They claimed that PM Lee and his wife, Ms Ho Ching, wanted to use the legacy of the late Mr Lee for personal gain, including their political ambitions for their son.

PM Lee had responded in a statement: "Ho Ching and I deny these allegations, especially the absurd claim that I have political ambitions for my son."

Mr Li is deputy director of the Government Digital Services Data Science Division of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, a statutory board under the Prime Minister's Office.

He studied at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Raffles Junior College, and received a Public Service Commission Overseas Merit Scholarship, a top government scholarship, to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

After graduating from MIT, he worked in Google for two years from 2011 to 2013, before returning to serve a six-year bond, according to his online LinkedIn profile.

PM Lee has a daughter, Ms Li Xiuqi, 36, and a son, Mr Li Yipeng, 34, from his first marriage. After his wife died, he married Ms Ho in 1985 and they have two sons, Mr Li Hongyi and Mr Li Haoyi, 27.

He had previously said in interviews that his children were not keen on entering politics and that he would leave them to decide the path they wished to take.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 16, 2017, with the headline PM's son Li Hongyi says he is not interested in politics. Subscribe