Lee Hsien Yang moves to tear down 38 Oxley Road
He intends to build a small private dwelling on the plot ‘to be held within the family in perpetuity’
LEE Hsien Yang is applying to demolish his family home at 38 Oxley Road where his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, lived before she died on Oct 9.
The younger son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew shared in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 15) that he intended to “build a small private dwelling to be held within the family in perpetuity” in the demolished asset’s place.
He also reiterated his father’s wishes for the house to be demolished “immediately after” Dr Lee moved out.
“I am the sole legal owner of 38 Oxley Road. After my sister’s passing, I am the only living executor of my father Lee Kuan Yew’s estate… It is my duty to carry out his wishes to the fullest extent of the law.”
Citing his brother Lee Hsien Loong’s 2015 Parliament statement that it would be up to “the government of the day” to decide whether to allow demolition, he added: “It has been nine years. That day is today.”
The Facebook post accompanied a screenshot excerpt of the demolition clause of Lee Kuan Yew’s will, which read:
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7. I further declare that it is my wish, and the wish of my late wife, KWA GEOK CHOO, that our house at 38 Oxley Road, Singapore 238629 (“the House”) be demolished immediately after my death, or if my daughter, Wei Ling, would prefer to continue living in the original house, immediately after she moves out of the House. I would ask each of my children to ensure our wishes with respect to the demolition of the House be carried out. If our children are unable to demolish the House as a result of any changes in the laws, rules or regulations binding them, it is my wish that the House never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants. My view on this has been made public before and remains unchanged. My statement of wishes in this paragraph 7 may be publicly disclosed notwithstanding that the rest of my Will is private.
The demolition clause has been a point of contention among Lee Kuan Yew’s children since his death on Mar 23, 2015, at the age of 91.
The late founding prime minister had willed 38 Oxley Road to his elder son Lee Hsien Loong, who served as Singapore’s third prime minister over the last two decades and remains senior minister after stepping down this year.
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The house was sold to Lee Hsien Yang in 2015 at market price on the condition that each of the brothers would donate half of their proceeds to various charities.
A public dispute emerged in 2017 between the Lee siblings over 38 Oxley Road, when the late Dr Lee and Lee Hsien Yang accused their brother of wanting to preserve the property for his own personal political gain.
Addressing his siblings’ claims in a ministerial statement that year, Lee Hsien Loong maintained that there was “no immediate issue of demolition” since Dr Lee was to continue living in the house.
“As and when my sister was no longer living there, the government of the day would consider the matter,” he stated.
In 2020, the Court of Three Judges and a disciplinary tribunal found that Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, had lied under oath during disciplinary proceedings against the latter over her handling of the last will of Lee Kuan Yew.
The couple left Singapore in 2022 after not turning up for an interview requested by the police for them to assist in the investigations. In March 2023, Lee Hsien Yang shared publicly that he may never return to Singapore.
Following the death of Dr Lee, the police told media that Lee Hsien Yang and his wife “are and have always been free to return to Singapore” as there were no legal restraints preventing them from doing so.
While Lee Hsien Yang earlier said he would not be returning to Singapore for his sister’s wake and funeral, he once again raised the subject of 38 Oxley Road in a Facebook post the day after Dr Lee died.
In the Oct 10 post, he said he was directed to convey the following statement on his sister’s death: “My father’s, LEE KUAN YEW, and my mother’s, KWA GEOK CHOO, unwavering and deeply felt wish was for their house at 38 Oxley Road, Singapore 238629 to be demolished upon the last parent’s death. LEE KUAN YEW had directed each of his 3 children to ensure that their parents’ wish for demolition be fulfilled. He had also appealed directly to the people of Singapore. Please honour my father by honouring his wish for his home to be demolished.”
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