Li Hongyi, PM Lee´s son punished

Singapore PM (PRIME Minister) Lee Hsien Loong´s son and Singapore Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew's grandson Li Hongyi, who is serving his national service, has been reprimanded by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for not following proper procedures in e-mailing a letter of complaint to many other servicemen. Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi had alleged that another officer from his unit had been absent without leave or AWOL on two occasions.

In the recent e-mail, which was sent to the Defence Minister and senior SAF officers, among others, Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi also stated that he had reported the matter to the officer´s superiors, but no disciplinary action had been taken. In a MINDEF (Ministry of Defence) statement released by the director of public affairs, "Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi was found to have contravened the General Orders of Mindef by broadcasting his letter of complaint to many other servicemen - almost all of whom were neither directly under his command, nor in an official capacity where they could deal with the matters contained in his letter of complaint. He has been formally charged and administered a reprimand after a summary trial."

It is understands that a summary trial deals with less serious military offences and is normally presided over by a senior disciplinary officer who may serve with the soldier´s own unit or is appointed to oversee the trial from another unit. Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi penalties include being warned by the senior disciplinary officer, forfeiture of days off or shouldering extra duties. In the statement, Mindef added that following Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi´s complaint, an investigation was conducted and the officers concerned have been disciplined. In fact, the officer that Li Hongyi complaint against, was found to have been AWOL was court-martialled and two supervising officers have been issued letters of warning for poor judgment in administering inappropriate disciplinary action.

Remember "no one is above the law"!

Background: Li Hongyi, who is the third of PM Lee & Ms Ho Ching's four children, has recently received a Public Service Commission scholarship to study economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.  Li Hongyi studied in Raffles Junior College was one of the 89 students receive special awards for outstanding academic achievement.  Li Hongyi is also the winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Math & Science.