38 Oxley Road gazetted as a national monument

SINGAPORE – The site at 38 Oxley Road – where key discussions between Singapore’s founding leaders took place – has been gazetted as a national monument, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and National Heritage Board (NHB) on Dec 12.

The gazette for the site takes effect on Dec 13. It houses a one-storey pre-war bungalow which was founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s family home from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.

Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo had considered a written objection submitted by Mr Lee Hsien Yang – the site’s owner – to the Prime Minister’s Office and the board in his decision to proceed with the preservation of the site, said the authorities in a statement.

Mr Neo noted that Mr Lee’s objection letter did not challenge the site’s historic significance or national importance, nor the evaluation process for identifying potential national monuments, they said.

He also did not dispute an advisory board’s assessment of the site’s preservation worthiness, they said.

Mr Lee, the younger son of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had until Nov 17 to submit any objections to the Government’s intention to gazette the site as a monument, which was announced on Nov 3. The NHB had said then that the

advisory board assessed that it has historic significance and national importance

MCCY and NHB said on Dec 12 that in Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s objection letter, he stated, among other things, that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was “clear and unambiguous” throughout his life that he wanted his home at 38 Oxley Road to be demolished.

Referencing a study by a ministerial committee tasked to study future options for 38 Oxley Road, MCCY and NHB said the committee’s 2018 report “clearly documented” that while Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s personal preference was for the building at 38 Oxley Road to be demolished, “he was prepared to accept options other than demolition, provided that suitable arrangements were made to refurbish the building and keep it in a habitable state; and protect his family’s privacy”.

MCCY and NHB said that preserving the site does not mean that the building and structures with in must be kept in their original state.

“The appropriate treatment of the building and structures will be subject to further study, once the Government has access to the site,” the agencies added.

“Nevertheless, to respect Mr Lee’s wishes, the Government has committed to removing the private living spaces from the interior of the building to protect the privacy of Mr Lee and his family under all eventual options.”

It was in the bungalow’s basement dining room that the founding members of the People’s Action Party began meeting in the 1950s to consider the feasibility of forming a political party.

Besides Mr Lee Kuan Yew, these individuals – of whom many went on to be coming key leaders of independent Singapore in the 1960s – included Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye, Mr S. Rajaratnam, and Mr K. M. Byrne.

An NHB spokesperson said on Nov 17 that the agency had received written objections from Mr Lee Hsien Yang, who had also

posted his objections on Facebook on the same day

In his objections, Mr Lee said 38 Oxley Road “will be a monument to the PAP’s dishonour of Lee Kuan Yew”, citing his father’s wish for the home to be demolished.

Under the law, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo would consider all objections, but could still decide to make a preservation order on the site thereafter.

Mr Neo

told Parliament on Nov 6

that if the site is preserved as a national monument, all options will be considered, including those proposed by the ministerial committee in 2018.

The committee, led by then Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, had set out three suggestions for 38 Oxley Road site and the bungalow: retain the entire building, retain only the basement dining room or demolish the bungalow fully for redevelopment – either for residential use or for alternative uses like a park or heritage centre.

Mr Neo said the site needs to be retained because of its historical significance, adding that it bore witness to pivotal events in the 1950s that marked Singapore’s transition from a colony to an independent nation.