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Ng Keng Gene<\/b><\/span> The site at 38 Oxley Road \u2013 where key discussions between Singapore’s founding leaders took place \u2013 has been gazetted as a national monument.<\/p>\n The preservation order for the site \u2013 published in the Government Gazette on Dec 12 at 5pm \u2013 takes effect on Dec 13. It houses a one-storey pre-war bungalow, in which founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew lived from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.<\/p>\n This decision comes several weeks after Mr Lee Hsien Yang \u2013 the site’s owner and younger son of the late Mr Lee \u2013 submitted a written objection to the authorities<\/a><\/span>, as provided for under the law, and after a panel had assessed the site to be worthy of preservation.<\/p>\n Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo considered the objection in his decision<\/a><\/span> to proceed with the preservation of the site, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and National Heritage Board (NHB) in a statement on Dec 12.<\/p>\n The agencies added that in deciding to proceed with preserving the site, 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.<\/p>\n He also did not dispute an advisory panel’s assessment of the site’s preservation worthiness, they said.<\/p>\n The agencies said that in his objection letter, Mr Lee Hsien Yang 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.<\/p>\n Referencing a 2018 report by a ministerial committee tasked with studying future options for 38 Oxley Road, MCCY and NHB said the report “clearly documented” that while Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s personal preference was for demolition, “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”.<\/p>\n The NHB has also reviewed the objection letter, and maintained its recommendation that the site is worthy of preservation, they said.<\/p>\n Mr Lee submitted his objections on Nov 17, within the two-week allocated period after the Government announced its intention to gazette the site as a monument on Nov 3. The NHB had said then that the advisory board had assessed that the site has historic significance and national importance<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The panel, formally called the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (PSM) Advisory Board, assesses sites that have been identified as potential monuments before providing a recommendation to the NHB.<\/p>\n If the NHB concurs with the advisory board’s assessment, it in turn submits a proposal to the culture, community and youth minister for the site to be preserved, which the minister must then evaluate.<\/p>\n MCCY and NHB said preserving the site does not mean that the building and structures within must be kept in their original state.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n In a Facebook post at 7.44pm on Dec 12, Mr Lee Hsien Yang reiterated claims he had previously made that his father was misled to believe that 38 Oxley Road had already been gazetted.<\/p>\n The Straits Times has contacted Mr Lee Hsien Yang for comment.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The Straits Times<\/b><\/span>
<\/span>Dec 12, 2025<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n