Govt not making any decision yet on Mr Lee Kuan Yew's Oxley Road home
Flowers and messages left near Mr Lee Kuan Yew's residence at Oxley Road. Photo: Robin Choo
SINGAPORE – No immediate decision will be made by the Government on whether the home of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew on Oxley Road will be demolished as his daughter, Dr Lee Wei Ling, will continue to live there, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today (April 13).
Responding to calls from the public to turn the house at 38 Oxley Road into a museum and a memorial to Mr Lee, the Prime Minister also revealed that Cabinet ministers had tried hard to change his mind about razing the property, but to no avail.
“Mr Lee’s position on 38 Oxley Road was unwavering over the years, and fully consistent with his lifelong values,” said PM Lee, adding that Singaporeeans should respect the wishes of Mr Lee and his wife, Madam Kwa Geok Choo, who also wanted the house to be demolished.
He added: “If and when (Dr Lee) no longer lives in the house, Mr Lee has stated his wishes as to what then should be done. At that point, speaking as a son, I would like to see these wishes carried out. However, it will be up to the Government of the day to consider the matter.”
Mr Lee had made a will in 2013, appointing the Prime Minister’s siblings, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee, as his executors and trustees.
PM Lee said that his father was adamant that the house be demolished after his death, and had written formally to the Cabinet at least twice to put his wishes on the record. “He said ‘it should not be kept as a kind of relic’. He said that he had seen too many other houses of famous people ‘kept frozen in time … as a monument with people tramping in and out’. They invariably ‘become shabby’,” PM Lee said.
“My mother also felt strongly about this. She was most distressed at the thought of people coming through her private spaces after she and my father had passed away, to see how they had lived.”
PM Lee noted that his father had stated his view on the matter in one of his books, Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, which was published in 2011. “This caused a public reaction, as some people wanted the house preserved,” PM Lee noted. So in December 2011, after he had retired from the Cabinet, PM Lee held a special Cabinet meeting and invited Mr Lee to attend to discuss the matter.
“The ministers tried hard to change his mind. After the meeting, Mr Lee wrote to the Cabinet: ‘Cabinet members were unanimous that 38 Oxley Road should not be demolished as I wanted. I have reflected on this and decided that if 38 Oxley Road is to be preserved, it needs to have its foundations reinforced and the whole building refurbished. It must then be let out for people to live in. An empty building will soon decline and decay.’”
Two years later, Mr Lee made his will.
On Sunday, Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang issued a press statement, urging Singaporeans to respect the late Mr Lee’s wish to demolish his home after his death or after Dr Lee moves out.
In the will, dated Dec 17 2013, Mr Lee wrote that in the event that his children are unable to demolish the house as a result of any changes in the law, rules or regulations binding them, it is his wish that the house never be opened to others except his children, their family and descendants.
