What happens should 38 Oxley Road be gazetted as a national monument?

This restricts changes that can be made to it, and makes provisions for its maintenance

- Ng Wei Kai and Ng Keng Gene

The site of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's house at 38 Oxley Road could be preserved as a national monument, after the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced on Oct 24 that it will assess ifthe site "has national historical, heritage and architectural significance as to be worthy of preservation".

This kick-starts the process for the site's potential gazetting as a national monument - a legal designation which restricts the changes that can be made to it and makes provisions for its maintenance.

The site contains the late Mr Lee's one-storey pre-war bungalow, which he lived in from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.

Its current owner, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, has applied for permission to demolish the house - an application that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) deferred evaluating as NHB plans to study the site.

The Sunday Times looks at how a site is gazetted, what the process is like, and what it means for the fate of the house at 38 Oxley Road.

Q Why is NHB studying 38 Oxley Road after the property was already studied by a ministerial committee?

A As part of an established process for potential national monuments, sites are researched by NHB, and its findings are presented to the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (PSM) advisory board comprising experts from various sectors - for its assessment.

NHB previously conducted thorough research on 38 Oxley Road for a 2018 ministerial committee report, which set out recommendations on what should be done with the house after Mr Lee Kuan Yew's death.

It said the PSM advisory board will use this report to "deliberate on the technical merits of the site's national, historical and architectural significance, before putting up its assessment to NHB".