Govt considers basement dining room of the house ‘less private’ than other parts of property

Spaces in 38 Oxley Road that have been documented in different forms of media, including the historically significant basement dining room, are considered “less private” by the Government, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo said on Nov 6.

- Ng Keng Gene Correspondent

Responding to Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast-Jurong West GRC) about what constitutes private living spaces on the site of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s family home, Mr Neo said that there are spaces, such as bedrooms, that “do not have any association with the historically significant events that took place at the site”.

Mr Neo had earlier repeated the Government's position that it will respect Mr Lee’s wishes for his family’s privacy to be maintained by removing all traces of their private living spaces from the house at 38 Oxley Road.

To respect Mr Lee’s wishes, said the acting minister, personal spaces such as bedrooms are likely to be “reconfigured or removed”.

This could “range from removing furnishings, fixtures or any objects still left, to potentially also tearing down such spaces”, he said.

The acting minister on Nov 6 spent 50 minutes in Parliament responding to clarifications from 12 MPs ona 20-minute speech he had delivered.

In the speech, Mr Neo laid out the thinking behind the Government’s intention to gazette the site at 38 Oxley Road as a national monument.

Noting that public officers have yet to gain access to the site, Mr Neo said that the structural integrity and safety of buildings on the site will have to be ascertained before a decision is made on what can be removed.

The basement dining room is widely regarded as the most historically significant part of the house, and was where key players in 1950s politics — including the late Mr Lee - discussed their ideas for Singapore’s future.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) had said on Nov 3 that if the site is gazetted and subsequently acquired by the Government, 38 Oxley Road will be converted into a public space such as a heritage park.

Awritten notice of the Government’s plan to gazette the site was issued to its owner, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, on that day.