Singapura, The Business Times, Inglês – Preserving 38 Oxley Road would stop private buyers seeking address linked to Lee Kuan Yew: David Neo

[SINGAPORE] Preserving the site at 38 Oxley Road would prevent a scenario where private parties attempt to buy it just for an address associated with the late Lee Kuan Yew’s residence, said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 6).

“I am sure all of us in this House and the vast majority of Singaporeans would want to make sure that that situation does not happen,” he said, in a ministerial statement on the government’s intention to preserve the site of Singapore’s founding prime minister’s home.

Preserving and acquiring the site means that it cannot be redeveloped for residential, commercial or other private uses, he reiterated.

The government’s considerations are for the entire site and not the buildings within, he added. Preserving the site does not obligate the government to keep the buildings in their current condition.

“In fact, the relevant authorities have not had the chance to enter the site to assess the conditions of the buildings and structures,” he said.

“That is a key reason why we are opting to preserve the site rather than the specific buildings and structures.”

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The government’s intention to gazette the site for preservation follows an independent assessment by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board (PSM AB), comprising experts in fields relevant to national monuments such as history and architecture.

Public officers on the board recused themselves during the assessment to ensure the site was considered independently, Neo noted.

National significance

The board assessed the site to have “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, as it bore witness to pivotal events in the late 1950s that marked Singapore’s transition from a colony to an independent nation.

Neo noted that there are 76 national monuments in Singapore, most of which have their roots from the colonial period.

“Only a precious few… embody Singapore’s struggle for self-determination after the Second World War, and our aspirations as a newly independent nation post-1965,” he said, giving the examples of the Former Parliament House and the Padang.

“We therefore need to carefully steward monuments that reflect this phase in our national history, and protect this cultural inheritance for our future generations,” he said. “They collectively connect Singaporeans with our Singapore Story.”

Preservation is only done after a “rigorous assessment process”, he noted. The National Heritage Board (NHB) conducts thorough research on the history and significance of an identified site, which is then assessed by the PSM AB.

Notice of intention

The PSM AB concluded that the site “is of national importance with great historic merit”. NHB, supporting the assessment, submitted its recommendation to Neo.

Neo said he received the recommendations and agrees with them.

On Monday, the authorities issued a notice of intention to the owner and occupier of 38 Oxley Road: a company called 38 Oxley Road Pte Ltd.

The company is owned by Lee Kuan Yew’s younger son Lee Hsien Yang, whose second son Li Huanwu is a director. Under the law, Lee Hsien Yang has 14 days to submit any objections to NHB.

NHB will then submit the objections and its recommendations to Neo, who will decide whether to proceed with the preservation of the site.

“All objections submitted and recommendations made will be considered objectively and fairly as part of due process,” said Neo. If the decision is to proceed, a preservation order will be made.

Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes

Neo noted Lee Kuan Yew’s preference for the house to be demolished, and his wife Kwa Geok Choo’s wish for the family’s living spaces to remain private.

However, Lee also “understood that he had to abide by the processes and system that he had built, and that the government has a duty and responsibility to consider the public interest and not just those of private individuals”, Neo said.

Neo added that that is why Lee wrote to Cabinet on Dec 27, 2011, stating: “If 38 Oxley Road is to be preserved, it needs to have its foundations reinforced and the whole building refurbished.”

Prior to this, the government did not have to make any decision on 38 Oxley Road as Lee’s daughter Lee Wei Ling was still residing in the house, noted Neo.

But after she died last October, the Urban Redevelopment Authority received a demolition application for the house.

That was when NHB launched a formal assessment of the site to determine if it is worthy of preservation.

Neo noted that in 2018, a ministerial committee on 38 Oxley Road stated in its report that “a future government would have to make an informed and considered decision on the matter when it becomes necessary”.

“This is the future government and the time is now,” he said.

If the government gains access to the site, it will do a detailed study of its buildings and structures and consider all options, including partial or full demolition of these.

Regardless of the option taken, the government will respect Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa’s wishes to protect their family’s privacy, by removing all traces of their private living spaces from the interior of the house, Neo said.

“Under no circumstance will the interior of the house as Mr Lee and Mdm Kwa knew, be displayed or recorded or remodelled or duplicated elsewhere,” he added.