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SINGAPORE \u2013 Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the sole owner of 38 Oxley Road, has said that he objects to the Government\u2019s plan to gazette <\/p>\n the site as a national monument<\/p>\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n This comes after the National Heritage Board (NHB) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) announced their intention to do so on Nov 3. The agencies said then that the site of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s family home is of <\/p>\n historic significance and national importance<\/p>\n <\/a> as the venue for political conversations, activities and decisions of Singapore\u2019s founding leaders. <\/p>\n On Nov 17, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong that as the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s son and trustee, he objects to the proposed gazetting of the property as a national monument. He had posted the letter on Facebook.<\/p>\n Nov 17 is the deadline for objections to be made against the proposed gazetting of 38 Oxley Road as a national monument. If gazetted and later acquired by the Government, the site will be <\/p>\n converted into a public space such as a heritage park<\/p>\n <\/a>, the authorities had said.<\/p>\n The law obliges Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo to consider Mr Lee Hsien Yang\u2019s objection, but <\/p>\n a preservation order to gazette the site can still be made<\/p>\n <\/a> thereafter.<\/p>\n The law does not dictate how long the minister can take to decide on whether he will make a preservation order after the notice of intention is issued.<\/p>\n In the letter, Mr Lee said 38 Oxley Road \u201cwill be a monument to the PAP\u2019s dishonour of Lee Kuan Yew\u201d, citing his father\u2019s wish for the home to be demolished. <\/p>\n \u201cThroughout his life Lee Kuan Yew was clear and unambiguous that he wanted his home at 38 Oxley Road demolished. He was against any monuments and this was part of the values he stood for,\u201d wrote Mr Lee.<\/p>\n \u201cNumerous false, convoluted and self-contradictory arguments have been advanced to attempt to justify this gazetting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe narrative that Lee Kuan Yew changed his mind and would be \u2018all right\u2019 with some form of preservation of his house is also a fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Lee said that from 2010, the late Mr Lee was led to believe that the Cabinet had made the decision to gazette 38 Oxley Road.<\/p>\n Referencing a line from Mr Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s last will, dated Dec 17, 2013, Mr Lee Hsien Yang said his father had never agreed to preserve and make public his dining room.<\/p>\n In the will, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had written: \u201cIf our children are unable to demolish the House as a result of any changes in the law, rules or regulations binding them, it is my wish that the House never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants.\u201d<\/p>\n