\n<\/p>\n
The announcement marks the latest development in a saga that has unfolded since Mr Lee’s death on Mar 23, 2015.<\/p>\n
The property was his home from 1950 until his death, and where his three children \u2013 Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the late Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang \u2013 grew up.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee Kuan Yew had on several occasions publicly expressed his wish for the house to be demolished after his death. In an October 2010 letter to the Cabinet, he stated it should \u201cnot be kept as a kind of relic for people to tramp through\u201d and that it has \u201cno merit as architecture\u201d.<\/p>\n
He reiterated his stance in a July 2011 letter to the Cabinet, but faced opposition from ministers.<\/p>\n
In December 2011, Mr Lee wrote that he had reflected on the matter after the Cabinet unanimously opposed demolition, and decided that if the property were to be preserved, it should have its foundations reinforced and be refurbished and let out for people to live in, as an empty building would \u201csoon decline and decay\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yet in his final will executed in 2013, Mr Lee returned to saying he wanted the house demolished, or if that were not possible, closed to everyone except family and descendants.<\/p>\n
The fate of the house would become the source of dispute among his children following his death, leading then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to make a ministerial statement in 2017.<\/p>\n
A ministerial committee on 38 Oxley Road was also convened, chaired by then Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. It released a final report in April 2018 with three proposals – retaining the house in whole; retaining just the historic basement dining room; or allowing demolition.<\/p>\n
The report made no recommendations and noted “there (was) no need to make a decision on the property” at the time, as Dr Lee Wei Ling was still living there.<\/p>\n
After Dr Lee\u2019s passing in October last year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority received a demolition application for the building at 38 Oxley Road. This application was made by Mr Lee Hsien Yang.<\/p>\n
In the same month, the National Heritage Board launched a formal assessment of the site to determine if it is worthy of preservation.<\/p>\n
In its assessment released this week, the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board assessed the site as having “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, describing it as a foundational part of Singapore’s independence that is “not represented by any other site or monument”.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee Hsien Yang has slammed the announcement. In a Facebook post on Nov 3, he wrote that the ruling government had \u201cchosen to trample on Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s unwavering wish to demolish his private house\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n