Singapore's government on Friday gazetted as a national monument the former home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, a site long at the centre of a bitter family dispute among his children.
The action marks a pivotal moment in the saga that has gripped the city-state since Lee's death in 2015, when his children publicly clashed over whether the bungalow at 38 Oxley Road should be preserved or torn down.
Lee's oldest son, and former prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong favoured preserving the property, which estate agents in 2024 said had a prospective value of around S$30mil (RM95.3mil) in land-scarce Singapore.
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. She died last year.
On Friday, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo issued a preservation order to gazette the site as a national monument, the ministry said in a statement.
The decision "took into consideration a written objection" by Lee Hsien Yang, who has been living in self-imposed exile abroad, citing political persecution which the government has denied.
The National Heritage Board had reviewed the objection, "and maintained its recommendation that the site is worthy of preservation as a National Monument for its historic significance and national importance," the statement said.
It added that the decision was "made in the public interest, and goes beyond the personal preferences of any individual".
The property was Lee's home from the mid-1940s until his death. It was the site of significant events in the 1950s marking Singapore's transition from a British colony to an independent nation.
It was also the venue for meetings of key leaders ahead of Singapore's independence in 1965.
The government intends to acquire the site and undertake a detailed study to consider the next steps, including turning it into a heritage park, according to the statement.
The government will remove "all traces of" the Lee family's private living spaces from the interior of the house and will not replicate them elsewhere in respect of his wishes to protect their privacy.
Lee is credited with transforming the South-East Asian island into a wealthy city-state in just a little over 30 years. - AFP
