38 Oxley Road gazetted as a national monument

Lee Hsien Yang's objection letter did not challenge site's historic significance: Agencies

- Ng Keng Gene Correspondent

The site at 38 Oxley Road - where key discussions between Singapore's founding leaders took place - has been gazetted as a national monument.

The preservation order for the site - published in the Government Gazette on Dec 12 at 5pm - takes effect on Dec 13. It houses a one-storey prewar bungalow, in which founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew lived from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.

This decision comes several weeks after Mr Lee Hsien Yang - the site's owner and younger son of the late Mr Lee - submitted a written objection to the authorities, as provided for under the law, and after a panel had assessed the site to be worthy of preservation.

Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo considered the objection in his decision 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.

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.

He also did not dispute an advisory panel's assessment of the site's preservation worthiness, they said.

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.