Singapore hopes to turn the site of the former home of founding father Lee Kuan Yew into a national monument, officials said on Monday following a long-running row between his children over the fate of the property.
The island state's National Heritage Board (NHB) said it intended to gazette Lee's estate, with the possibility of turning the area into a heritage park.
The former home of Singapore's first prime minister was deemed "to be of historic significance and national importance, and worthy of preservation as a national monument", the NHB and the Singapore Land Authority said in a combined statement.
The prime location at 38 Oxley Road in land-scarce Singapore has been the centre of a flaming row between Lee's children since his death in 2015 over whether it should be demolished.
The disagreement blew into the open in 2017, dividing the public as their feud generated global headlines.
Lee's oldest son and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong favoured preserving the property which estate agents in 2024 said had an indicative price of around US$23mil (RM97mil).
But his two siblings - corporate executive Lee Hsien Yang and the late neurologist Lee Wei Ling - have pointed to language in their father's will calling for its demolition.
The younger siblings accused their brother in 2017 of trying to exploit their father's legacy for political gain, though the issue simmered down as Lee Wei Ling was still living on the property.
Her death a year ago has left the five-bedroom bungalow empty, reigniting calls from Lee Hsien Yang - who bought the property from his older brother in 2015 - for the will to be implemented.
Monday's combined statement said that should a preservation order - a legal directive placing the property under the NHB's protection - be issued, Singapore's government intended to buy the site.
"If the site is preserved and acquired, the government will convert it into a public space, with one possible outcome being a heritage park," the statement said.
However it added that "preserving the side does not obligate the government to preserve all the buildings and structures... in their current state," and authorities had yet to assess the buildings.
The property was the home of founding premier Lee from the mid-1940s until his death. He is credited with transforming the former British colony into a wealthy city-state in just a little over 30 years. - AFP
