Lee Hsien Yang: 38 Oxley Road will be "a monument to the PAP’s dishonour of Lee Kuan Yew"

SINGAPORE: Following the Government’s announcement of its intention to preserve and potentially acquire 38 Oxley Road, Lee Hsien Yang (LHY), the son of Singapore’s founding leader, the late Lee Kuan Yew, said that “38 Oxley Road will be a monument to the PAP’s dishonour of Lee Kuan Yew.” LHY, the younger brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, reiterated that throughout his life, Lee Kuan Yew had been clear and unequivocal that he wanted his home at 38 Oxley Road demolished. “He was against any monuments, and this was part of the values he upheld. As his son and his trustee, I object to the proposed gazetting of the property,” LHY wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, which he publicly shared on Facebook on the morning of 17 November 2025. This came after the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced on 3 November 2025 that the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board had assessed 38 Oxley Road to be of “historic significance and national importance.” Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo accepted the recommendation and announced that the Government intended to gazette the site as a national monument. As executor of Lee Kuan Yew's will and owner of 38 Oxley Road, LHY was given a deadline until 17 November 2025, which is today, to submit objections. Minister Neo will then “consider every objection” before making a final decision. If preservation proceeds, the Government will issue a formal preservation order and begin acquiring the site, with the eventual aim of making it accessible to the public.

LHY rejects Government’s rationale and cites father’s explicit demolition wish

In his Facebook post today, LHY explicitly objected to the proposed gazetting of the property. In the same post, LHY further alleged that “numerous false, convoluted and self-contradictory arguments have been advanced to attempt to justify this gazetting.” He criticised the claim that Lee Kuan Yew had changed his mind and would be “all right” with some form of preservation of his house, calling it a fiction. LHY stated that from 2010, Lee Kuan Yew had been led to believe that the decision to gazette 38 Oxley Road had already been made by Cabinet. According to LHY, Lee Kuan Yew chose to appeal directly to Singaporeans and instructed his three children to demolish the house. "Only if they were blocked, then “... the House never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants.”. He had never agreed to preserve and make public his dining room." LHY also included a short video clip of the late Lee Kuan Yew’s interview with the media, in which he clearly stated: “I have told the Cabinet that when I’m dead, demolish it (38 Oxley Road).” After the passing of Dr Lee Wei Ling in October 2024, LHY applied to demolish 38 Oxley Road, saying he was committed to keeping the property privately within the family in perpetuity, in accordance with his father’s wishes. LHY also cited published opinion polls since 2015, which he said consistently showed overwhelming support for honouring Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for demolition. “From 2016 to 2018, a high-powered secret committee, including Ministers Lawrence Wong and Shanmugam and DPM Teo Chee Hean, deliberated and made recommendations. Today, PM Wong, this decision sits with you, not some junior minister or committee, ” LHY wrote. “Remember Ozymandias. The PAP Government can honour Lee Kuan Yew on a matter of deep importance to him, or trample on his wishes and create a monument to that dishonour,” LHY concluded.

LHY: PAP Government has ‘trampled’ on Lee Kuan Yew’s wish to demolish 38 Oxley Road

Earlier, on 3 November, LHY sharply criticised the Government for disregarding his father’s “unwavering wish” to demolish the property, claiming that the decision “tramples on Lee Kuan Yew’s clear and private wish” for the house to be demolished. He also pointed out that the Founders’ Memorial already stands as a “huge and expensive monument,” noting that his father had opposed such commemorative projects. On 6 November, Acting MCCY Minister David Neo delivered a ministerial statement in Parliament, stressing that the move was not intended to memorialise any individual leader but to safeguard Singapore’s historical legacy for future generations. “In preserving the site, we are not memorialising any single leader. We are safeguarding the grounds where future generations can stand to understand where we came from, who we are, and what we overcame together,” Neo said.

David Neo: Preserving 38 Oxley Road won’t memorialise any leader; objection will be reviewed fairly

He explained that the Government had chosen what he described as “the most responsible approach” to deciding the future of 38 Oxley Road. Neo referenced a 2018 report by a ministerial committee, which had recommended that a future Government should make an informed and considered decision on the matter when needed. “This is the future Government, and the time is now,” Neo said. “We will take deliberate steps to decide, and we will do so in the best interest of Singapore and Singaporeans, now and for the future.”

Historical sites as "lasting links to the nation’s past"

“There will come a time when no one who has lived through Singapore’s struggle for independence will be around to recount these stories firsthand. But the sites and markers that we choose to keep today will continue to speak for them,” Neo said. Neo added that the Government intended to finalise its plans for the site’s use and configuration during the current term, which ends in 2030. This includes decisions on the treatment of existing buildings and structures. Until then, there will be no public access to 38 Oxley Road.

MPs grill Government on 38 Oxley Road plan; WP questions respect for LKY’s wishes, transparency on cost

Following Neo’s ministerial statement, at least 12 MPs pressed the Government to justify preserving and potentially acquiring 38 Oxley Road. Workers’ Party MPs highlighted Lee Kuan Yew’s stated wish for the house to be demolished and asked how public interest would be balanced against the current owner’s preferences. They questioned whether alternatives such as limited access or relocation could be considered, and they called for full transparency on valuation and acquisition costs. WP MPs also asked whether the site would offer heritage value beyond the upcoming Founders’ Memorial, while Neo maintained that the location’s authenticity makes preservation necessary.