Under The Angsana Tree: PM Lee’s Nephew Supports Pink Dot

Update 24 May 2019: Lee Hsien Yang’s 2nd son, Li Huanwu, marries boyfriend in South Africa

South Africa legalised same-sex marriage in 2006

The grandson of Lee Kuan Yew and second son of Lee Hsien Yang, Li Huanwu, has married his boyfriend Heng Yirui in South Africa.

The announcement was made by Heng via Instagram on May 24, with the location tagged at Cape Town and the following caption:

“Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with @hero.unit”

Li and Heng had previously appeared in a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)-themed photography campaign called Out in Singapore in July 2018.

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Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Suet Fern and Li Shengwu were in attendance at Li Huanwu’s wedding

It has just been revealed on social media that founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson Li Huanwu’s wedding was attended by his immediate family, including his father Lee Hsien Yang, mother Lee Suet Fern, elder brother Li Shengwu and younger brother Li Shaowu.

Huanwu, who is also current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s nephew, married his longtime boyfriend Heng Yirui in an intimate ceremony in South Africa, last Friday (24 May). Facebook page ‘Dear Straight People’ revealed this afternoon (28 May) that the immediate families of both men were present at the wedding.

Sharing a photo of the newly married couple and their families, supplied by Huanwu, the page said: “It’s incredibly heartening to see the families of Li Huanwu (the grandson of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew) and his partner Heng Yirui, attend their wedding in South Africa! #LoveWins”

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Dear Straight People Like This Page · 15 hrs

It's incredibly heartening to see the families of Li Huanwu (the grandson of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew) and his partner Heng Yirui, attend their wedding in South Africa! #LoveWins

Photo credit: Li Huanwu

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Chinese social media users cheer them on

A grandson of Singapore’s late founding father Lee Kuan Yew revealed on Friday he had married his boyfriend in South Africa, prompting a flurry of mostly positive reactions in his country, where male homosexuality is banned, and around the region.

Li Huanwu, the second son of Lee Hsien Yang, was seen with his partner Heng Yirui in an Instagram post the latter shared online on Friday with a caption that read: “Today I marry my soulmate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with [Huanwu].” The picture showed both in matching white shirts and khaki trousers at a game reserve in Cape Town. “I’ll echo my comment I made to Pink Dot – today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family,” Li told the South China Morning Post.

Li’s father, Lee Hsien Yang, is himself the second and youngest son of the elder Lee, who died in March 2015. Asked about his son’s nuptials, Lee told the Post : “I believe my father would have been thrilled to know this.”

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Lee Hsien Yang on son’s wedding to boyfriend “I believe my father would have been thrilled to know this”

Singapore, along with the rest of the world, found out over social media on the afternoon of Friday (May 25) about the wedding of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s nephew Li Huanwu to his boyfriend Heng Yirui at a reserve in Cape Town, South Africa, where same-sex marriages were legalised in 2006.

When the South China Morning Post (SCMP) asked Li Huanwu’s father Lee Hsien Yang — the younger brother of PM Lee and second son of Singapore’s founding PM Lee Kuan Yew — about his son’s wedding, Lee Hsien Yang replied,

“I BELIEVE MY FATHER WOULD HAVE BEEN THRILLED TO KNOW THIS.”

As for Mr Li, he told SCMP, “I’ll echo my comment I made to Pink Dot – today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family.”

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Lee Hsien Yang's son Li Huanwu marries male partner in South Africa

The grandson of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Li Huanwu, married his male "soul mate" in Cape Town, South Africa.

This was revealed by Li's partner, Heng Yirui, who made the announcement on his personal Instagram account on Friday (24 May).

"Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with (Huanwu)," said Heng in his post.

The couple also sent photos of their wedding to Pink Dot Singapore, a non-profit movement against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) discrimination.

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pinkdotsg south africa

Today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family.” - Newlyweds Li Huanwu & Heng Yirui in a statement to Pink Dot SG. 🎊•

The grandson of Lee Kuan Yew and second son of Lee Hsien Yang, Li Huanwu, has married his partner Heng Yirui in South Africa. Congratulations to husbands Huanwu and Yirui 🌈! •

📷 provided by Heng Yirui and Li Huanwu. #lovewins

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Li Huanwu, grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, marries male partner in South Africa

Li Huanwu, the grandson of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, is marrying his male partner in South Africa on Friday (24 May)

Li, a vice-president of a tech company, is the second son of Lee Hsien Yang, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Heng is a veterinarian.

The couple also sent photos of their wedding to Pink Dot Singapore, who posted them on its Instagram page.

“Today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family,” they said in a statement to Pink Dot Singapore.

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Lee Hsien Yang’s son Li Huanwu & boyfriend Heng Yirui in South Africa

Congratulations are in order for Li Huanwu, the nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and his boyfriend Heng Yirui, who were married in South Africa today, May 24.

In an Instagram post put up in the late afternoon, Dr Heng wrote, “Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with @hero.unit” In the photo, there’s an elephant standing in the background and Dr Heng tagged the location of the photo as Cape Town.

In June of last year, Mr Li came out publicly as a member of the LGBT community when he and Dr Heng were featured in the campaign called Out in Singapore, whose goal was to encourage acceptance and support for “LGBTQ persons who wish to come out to family, friends, and peers in the community.”

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hengyirui Cape Town, Western Cape

hengyirui Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with @hero.unit

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Li Huanwu is with Heng Yirui at Mana Pools National Park. 16 hrs

Safari before our big day. #lovewins

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Li Huanwu updated his profile picture. Yesterday at 10:04

No call to social action this year -- I'll be more selfish: it's the day before my birthday (it's also the day after Magnus' birthday).

Be there. (And grab a drink when you stop by.)

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Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson comes out as gay. Here's why it shouldn’t matter

Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson coming out of the closet has certainly got a lot of attention in Singapore, where same-sex relationships are not recognised under the law, and adoption of children by same-sex couples is illegal. Being a scion of the famous Lee Family must have made things harder. And yet, do you know what the late Lee Kuan Yew himself thought about homosexuality? In his book, Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, he writes:

“No, it's not a lifestyle. You can read the books all you want, all the articles. There's a genetic difference, so it's not a matter of choice. They are born that way and that's that. So if two men or two women are that way, just leave them alone.”

Interestingly, he was also asked, "How would you feel if one of your grandchildren were to say to you that he or she is gay?" To which he had replied:

"That's life. They're born with that genetic code, that's that. Dick Cheney didn't like gays but his daughter was born like that. He says, "I still love her, full stop.""
"It's happened to his family. So on principle he's against it, but it's his daughter. Do you throw the daughter out? That's life. I mean none of my children is gay, but if they were, well that's that."

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Lee Kuan Yew’s gay grandson publicly comes out of the closet

Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson, Li Huanwu, publicly came out of the closet earlier this month. Both Huanwu and his boyfriend, Yirui Heng, were featured in the Out in Singapore platform, which aims to foster acceptance and support for “LGBTQ persons who wish to come out to family, friends and peers in the community.”

Huanwu and his partner can be seen with their arms around each other in portraits shot for Out in Singapore. The son of Lee Hsien Yang, 31-year-old Huanwu works as a general manager while his 27-year-old partner is a fellow Singaporean who works as a veterinarian.

While Huanwu has not publicly come out of the closet on such a scale in the past, he has urged Singaporeans to support Pink Dot over the past two years. Last year, Huanwu publicly appealed for members of the LGBT community and straight allies to attend the event in a show of solidarity.

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Out In Singapore

Huanwu Li & Yirui Heng

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Pink Dot celebrates its 10th year

A photo exhibition featuring LGBTQ individuals is also on display at the Intermission Bar in Golden Mile Tower, displaying portraits of 150 individuals in Singapore.

The exhibition titled Out in Singapore was shot by prominent Singaporean photographer Leslie Kee.

Among the notable names featured includes director Glen Goei, 55, as well as founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's grandson, Mr Li Huanwu, 31, general manager, and his partner, Mr Yi Rui Heng, 27, veterinarian. Mr Li's father is Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the younger son of the late Mr Lee.

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5 Moments At Pink Dot 10 That Show How Far Singapore Has Come

And then there are the changemakers sparking important conversations about sexuality, simply by being out and proud. Take this photo of Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson Li Huanwu and his boyfriend at Pink Dot, which has been making the rounds online.

While the photo has received the usual criticism among more conservative quarters, it also serves as a poignant reminder that LGBTQ people are everywhere – even in Singapore’s first family of politics.

And if the Lee family of Oxley Road can accept their gay son, surely the Lee families of Tampines and Jurong West can, too.

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Dear Straight People July 22 at 11:18 AM

The gay grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, Li Huanwu and his boyfriend Yirui, were among the thousands of attendees at Pink Dot 2018!

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PM Lee’s Nephew Supports Pink Dot And The Event Reached Max Capacity

Thousands of Singaporeans flocked to Hong Lim Park on Saturday (July 1), as the much-anticipated Pink Dot was held after overcoming many obstacles.

Among them: Foreign sponsorship was banned, which led to local companies filling in the gap; foreigners were banned entirely, leading to barricades being erected around the park; and people complained over even the event’s ad at Orchard Cineleisure.

In happier news, however, Paralympian Theresa Goh came out and became a Pink Dot ambassador. Here she is at the event.

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Li Huanwu 30 June 2017 · Singapore

Dear Singaporean / PR friends,

It has been a difficult year for Pink Dot, which faced many challenges that seemed insurmountable at the outset. Nevertheless, the organizers appear to have acquired a knack for doing the impossible and the event will go on today.

If you are a straight ally, I implore you to come stand in solidarity. For the LGBT community, it is but a dream to share in the same human dignities as you, to live full and proper lives. Your support is needed to live that dream. Please stand with us.

If you're a closeted member of the LGBT community, I also urge you to come. I hope that you will look past the security barricades and ID checks and see -- if only for an afternoon -- that there is more to life than the darkness of the closet, that there are people out there who care.

Finally, If you're an out member of the LGBT community, you have a moral responsibility to come. If you do not stand up yourself, you cannot expect others to fight for you. This is your moral duty.

Be there.
-Huan

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Lee Hsien Yang’s Son Urges LGBT Community to Attend Pink Dot and Stand Up for Themselves

Lee Hsien Yang’s son, Li Huanwu (pictured above, left), has urged the LGBT community to attend Pink Dot 2017 and stand up for themselves.

He said that this is a “moral duty” and that they cannot expect others to battle on their behalf. Li also called on straight men and women who support the LGBT community, aka “straight allies”, to attend the annual Pink Dot event.

“For the LGBT community, it is but a dream to share in the same human dignities as you, to live full and proper lives. Your support is needed to live that dream. Please stand with us.”

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Lee Hsien Yang’s 2nd son, Li Huanwu, urges LGBT S’poreans to support Pink Dot

As Pink Dot’s sphere of influence grows with each passing year, the ninth edition of the event in 2017 has received some surprising endorsements. Following the ban on foreign sponsorship for Pink Dot this year, some 120 local companies stepped up to the plate financially and in-kind.

And in a surprise move, Paralympian Theresa Goh and singing sensation Nathan Hartono, both individuals who have been held up and embraced as local heroes for their world-beating feats, became Pink Dot ambassadors.

And now, Lee Hsien Yang’s second son, Li Huanwu, who is 31 years old this year, has publicly urged members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community to take up the moral responsibility of showing up at Hong Lim Park on July 1, 2017, in support of Pink Dot.

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LHY's SON LI HUANWU CHANGED LKY'S HARDLINE STANCE TOWARDS GAYS

One of Lee Hsien Yang's son is openly gay. He has not only posted about his sexuality, he also encouraged people to attend Pink Dot and attended it himself.

When Lee Kuan Yew was PM, gays were routinely ID-checked by police and Johor Street, an old haunt of transgender sex workers, was sanitised. What brought about a softening of Grandpa Lee's attitude towards gay people? What brought about his public statement about gay people being born this way in 2007?

Out of respect for the gay son, I do not speculate about the process of the grandson's coming out. However, I doubt the grandson's sexuality would have escaped the family's scrutiny. I suspect the love for a son/grandson shifted one important family.

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Lee Hsien Yang’s Son Urges LGBT Community to Attend Pink Dot and Stand Up for Themselves

Lee Hsien Yang’s son, Li Huanwu (pictured above, left), has urged the LGBT community to attend Pink Dot 2017 and stand up for themselves.

He said that this is a “moral duty” and that they cannot expect others to battle on their behalf.

Li also called on straight men and women who support the LGBT community, aka “straight allies”, to attend the annual Pink Dot event.

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Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson urges Singaporeans to support Pink Dot

Lee Hsien Yang and his son Li Huanwu doing more than any other Lee to change Singapore for the better! #ThumbsUp

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Wake Up, Singapore shared a post. 30 June 2017

Lee Hsien Yang's son, who is gay, speaks in support of Pink Dot.

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LKY's grandson Lee Huanwu (Li Huanwu) is gay

All along Singapore has ostracized homosexuals, then when he discovered his grandson Li Huanwu is gay, then suddenly the anti-homosexual laws are repealed.

And therein lies the trouble with all PAP MPs, they keep recruiting mini-Lees who think and operate like Lee Kuan Yew, creating a government of self-centered scumbags.

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Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson urges Singaporeans to support Pink Dot

Li Huanwu, Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson and Lee Hsien Yang’s son, has come out in support of Pink Dot 2017, urging members of the LGBT community and straight allies to attend the event which is in its ninth year in a show of solidarity.

Lee Kuan Yew, himself, was supportive of people in same-sex relationships in Singapore.

He had consistently stated in interviews his belief that homosexuality is a genetic variance and that homosexuals should not be persecuted.

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Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew questions homosexuality ban

Singapore’s powerful former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, acknowledging the view that some people are genetically destined to be homosexual, has questioned the city-state’s ban on sex between men.

“If in fact it is true, and I have asked doctors this, that you are genetically born a homosexual — because that’s the nature of the genetic random transmission of genes — you can’t help it. So why should we criminalize it?” Monday’s Straits Times, a pro-government daily, quoted Lee as saying.

Under Singapore law, a man who is found to have committed an act of “gross indecency” with another man can be jailed for up to two years, though prosecutions are rare.

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LKY will accept it if grandchildren are gay

SINGAPORE'S Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew will accept the reality if any of his grandchildren is homosexual, Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau reported.

In an interview with The Straits Times, Lee said homosexuality was a genetic issue. Sin Chew Daily, which quoted excerpts from the interview, reported Lee as saying that former US vice-president Dick Cheney was against homosexuality but he still loved his daughter even though she was a lesbian.

However, Lee stressed that none of his children was a homosexual. He said that of his six grandchildren, his favourite was Li Yipeng who was born an albino. He added that Yipeng was respectful of elders and hardworking even though he was slow in his studies.

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Lee Kuan Yew's views on homosexuality

On the evening of Friday, 11 December 1998, the then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew was a guest on a CNN International radio programme hosted by Riz Khan fielding questions by callers when a gay question came in via telephone from an unnamed caller:

"I am a gay man in Singapore. I do not feel that my country has acknowledged my presence. As we move into a more tolerant millennium, what do you think is the future for gay people in Singapore, if there is a future at all?"

Lee replied:

"Well, it's not a matter which I can decide or any government can decide. It's a question of what a society considers acceptable. And as you know, Singaporeans are by and large a very conservative, orthodox society, a very, I would say, completely different from, say, the United States and I don't think an aggressive gay rights movement would help. But what we are doing as a government is to leave people to live their own lives so long as they don't impinge on other people. I mean, we don't harass anybody."

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Lee Kuan Yew frankly shared his thoughts on homosexuality at a PAP Youth Wing event in 2007

“This business of homosexuality. It raises tempers all over the world, and even in America. If in fact it is true, and I’ve asked doctors this, that you are genetically born a homosexual, because that is the nature of genetic random transmission of genes. You can’t help it. So why should we criminalise it?“

But there is such a strong inhibition in all societies – Christianity, Islam, even the Hindu, Chinese societies. And we’re now confronted with a persisiting aberration, but is it an aberration? It’s a genetic variation.

“So what do we do? I think we pragmatically adjust…”

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Singapore not ready for same-sex marriage as society is still conservative: PM LHL

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong does not think Singapore is ready for same-sex marriage because the society is still conservative although it is changing gradually.

But the gay community have the space to live their lives in Singapore, he added. "We do not harass them or discriminate against them," he said when replying to a Filipino journalist who was interviewing him with other visiting Asean journalists on Thursday.

Mr Lee noted that same-sex marriage is gaining acceptance in some developed countries such as Britain and some states in the United States.

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Li Hongyi & Li Shengwu: 2 latest Internet sensation from the Lee family

SOON after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (PM Lee) two siblings publicly denounced him in a joint statement in the early hours of Wednesday, his nephew, Mr Li Shengwu wrote a Facebook post supporting the statement against his uncle.

Mr Li Shengwu is Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s first born. He is also the first of the third generation of the Lee family to make a public comment on the matter.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and his wife Mrs Lee Suet Fern, have two other sons: Mr Li Huanwu and Mr Li Shaowu. Mr Lee made the joint statement with his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling. She has no children of her own.

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Mustsharenews.com 26 June