Preserving 38 Oxley Road would stop private buyers seeking address linked to Lee Kuan Yew: David Neo
Private interior of the house will not be displayed or duplicated; areas such as basement dining room may be considered ‘less private’
[SINGAPORE] Preserving the site at 38 Oxley Road would prevent a scenario where private parties attempt to buy it just for an address associated with the late Lee Kuan Yew’s residence, said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 6).
“I am sure all of us in this House and the vast majority of Singaporeans would want to make sure that that situation does not happen,” he said in a ministerial statement on the government’s intention to preserve the site of Singapore’s founding prime minister’s home.
Preserving and acquiring the site means that it cannot be redeveloped for residential, commercial or other private uses, he reiterated.
The government’s considerations are for the entire site and not the buildings within; preserving the site does not mean the buildings must be kept in their current condition, he added.
The authorities have not had a chance to enter the site to assess the conditions of buildings and structures, he said. “That is a key reason why we are opting to preserve the site rather than the specific buildings and structures.”
The government’s intention to gazette the site for preservation follows an independent assessment by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board (PSM AB), comprising experts in fields such as history and architecture.
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Public officers on the board recused themselves to ensure the site was considered independently, Neo noted.
National significance
The board assessed the site to have “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, as it bore witness to pivotal events in the late 1950s during Singapore’s road to independence.
Neo noted that most of the country’s 76 national monuments have their roots in the colonial period.
“Only a precious few… embody Singapore’s struggle for self-determination after the Second World War, and our aspirations as a newly independent nation post-1965,” he said, giving the examples of the former Parliament House and the Padang.
“We therefore need to carefully steward monuments that reflect this phase in our national history, and protect this cultural inheritance for our future generations.”
Preservation is done only after a “rigorous assessment process”, he noted. The National Heritage Board (NHB) conducts research on the history and significance of an identified site, which is then assessed by PSM AB.
Notice of intention
PSM AB concluded that the site “is of national importance with great historic merit”. NHB, supporting the assessment, submitted its recommendation.
Neo said that he received and agrees with the recommendations.
On Monday, the authorities issued a notice of intention to the owner and occupier of 38 Oxley Road: a company called 38 Oxley Road Pte Ltd.
The company is owned by Lee Kuan Yew’s younger son Lee Hsien Yang, whose second son Li Huanwu is a director. Under the law, Lee Hsien Yang has 14 days to submit any objections to NHB.
NHB will then submit the objections and its recommendations to Neo, who will decide whether to proceed with the preservation of the site. If the decision is to proceed, a preservation order will be made.
In response to questions by Members of Parliament (MPs) about the intended timeline, Neo said that it is premature to provide any firm timelines as a preservation order has not been made.
While the government is considering developing a heritage park there, it is also premature to say what the final configuration of the site might be, he added.
Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes
Neo noted Lee Kuan Yew’s preference for the house to be demolished, and his wife Kwa Geok Choo’s wish for the family’s living spaces to remain private.
However, Lee Kuan Yew also “understood that he had to abide by the processes and system that he had built, and that the government has a duty and responsibility to consider the public interest and not just those of private individuals”, Neo said.
He added that is why the founding prime minister wrote to Cabinet on Dec 27, 2011, stating: “If 38 Oxley Road is to be preserved, it needs to have its foundations reinforced and the whole building refurbished.”
Prior to this, the government did not have to make any decision on 38 Oxley Road as Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter Lee Wei Ling was still residing there, noted Neo.
But after she died last October, the Urban Redevelopment Authority received a demolition application for the house. That was when NHB launched a formal assessment of the site.
Neo noted that in 2018, a ministerial committee on 38 Oxley Road stated that “a future government would have to make an informed and considered decision on the matter when it becomes necessary”.
“This is the future government and the time is now,” he said.
If the government gains access to the site, it will do a detailed study of its buildings and structures and consider all options, including partial or full demolition of these.
Regardless of the option taken, the government will respect Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa’s wishes to protect their family’s privacy, by removing all traces of their private living spaces from the interior, Neo said.
“Under no circumstance will the interior of the house as Mr Lee and Madam Kwa knew be displayed or recorded or remodelled or duplicated elsewhere,” he added.
Ang Wei Neng, MP for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, asked whether this would apply to the basement dining room, where important political meetings were held.
Neo said that the dining room would be considered “less private”.
But other spaces such as bedrooms are not associated with historically significant events, and would be reconfigured or removed, he added. This may mean removing furnishings or fixtures and potentially tearing down spaces.
“Will augment Founders’ Memorial”
MPs also asked how 38 Oxley Road would compare with the upcoming Founders’ Memorial.
Workers’ Party Non-Constituency MP Eileen Chong asked what “additional heritage value or visitor experience” a heritage park would provide that could not be more effectively delivered through the S$335 million Founders’ Memorial.
Neo replied that the Founders’ Memorial is not located “in the same space” where the events leading up to independence took place.
“There will not be that same sense of authenticity,” he said. “If the preservation were to go through, this site will augment the Founders’ Memorial to give Singaporeans a fuller understanding of what it means to be Singaporean, our sense of national identity and how we can forge forward as one people.”
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