Maverick sons

The sons of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong are mavericks.

Writers and bloggers have had field day dissecting the chain of events following Li Hongyi's long letter of complaint against a fellow officer in the Singapore Armed Forces for being absent without leave or AWOL on two occasions. He had sent the letter to the Defence Minister, senior governments officials and broadcast the letter to many fellow servicemen who were not involved in the case.

To cut the long story short, Lee's son (pix from Simple is the Reason of My Heart) earned a reprimand for not following the proper channel in lodging his complaint. The other officer was also court martialed and reprimanded.

Public reaction has been mixed. Many praised him for blowing the whistle, but some lambasted him for his brash act.

Another son of Hsien Loong and second wife Ho Ching of Temasek Holdings also came into the limelight during the last elections in 2006. Hsien Loong disclosed that his youngest son Haoyi had attended the rally of the Opposition during the hustings.

The young sons of Hsien Loong appear to be quite independent minded. They are willing to speak up, quite different from many Singaporeans who simply toe the official line. Maybe, they can afford to be different due to their privileged background. To be sure, they are not above the law as shown in the Hongyi case.

There's no doubt that they will go far in the Singapore society, due to their ability and pedigree. But will the third generation of Lees be able to follow the footstep of their PM father and their grandfather -- former PM Lee Kuan Yew?

The jury is still out.