PAP govt has chosen to trample on Lee Kuan Yew’s wish to have his house demolished: Lee Hsien Yang

He said his father was opposed to monuments, and that the People’s Action Party disrespects the legacy and values of Mr Lee Kuan Yew by choosing to gazette 38 Oxley Road as a national monument.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has two weeks until Nov 17 to submit any objections to the notice, after which Mr Neo will “consider every objection” before making a final decision on whether to make a preservation order for the site.

Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had lived at 38 Oxley Road from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.

The single-storey bungalow, built in the 19th century, had also served as the early headquarters of the PAP. It was in the basement dining room that the party was founded and where Singapore’s founding leaders had met to plan the transition from the end of colonial rule to independence.

The property has been at the

after the death of Mr Lee Kuan Yew on March 23, 2015.

His three children had disagreed on the fate of the property when his will was read, with Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, saying that their father wanted the house demolished without compromise.

Their elder brother, then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was of the view that their father was prepared to consider alternatives should the Government decide otherwise.

In a bid to resolve the disagreement, PM Lee, who was bequeathed the house by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had transferred the property to Mr Lee Hsien Yang at market value in late 2015.

Dr Lee continued living in the property. 

The family feud spilled into public view in June 2017, when Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee went on social media to denounce PM Lee and accuse him of trying to block the demolition of the house against the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wish.

Shortly after Dr Lee’s death on Oct 9, 2024, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said in a Facebook post that he

at 38 Oxley Road to build a small private dwelling that would be “be held within the family in perpetuity”.

He made an application on Oct 21, 2024 to demolish the house.

On Oct 24, 2024, NHB announced that it

to assess if it is worthy of preservation as a national monument.

The URA then told the media it would defer the evaluation of Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s application given the study.

Since then, Mr Lee Hsien Yang has been calling on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to make a decision on the property. In several social media posts, he accused the Government of “kicking the can down the road”.