(Nov 3): Singapore intends to preserve the house of its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew as a national monument, opening a new chapter in the yearslong feud among his children.
Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo accepted the National Heritage Board’s recommendation to retain the site at 38 Oxley Road, the heritage board and Singapore Land Authority said in a joint statement on Monday.
If the site on the fringe of the city’s Orchard Road shopping belt is preserved, the government will convert it into a public space, with a possible use as a heritage park.
The government will consider all options and will honour Lee’s wishes by removing all traces of his and his family’s private living spaces from the buildings, according to the statement.
Singapore temporarily blocked the demolition of the house last year, after Lee Hsien Yang, the patriarch’s youngest son, applied to destroy the home. Hsien Yang and his late sister Lee Wei Ling have accused their elder brother, former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, of attempting to undermine their father’s instructions to destroy it, in part by creating a 2018 ministerial committee to explore options for the property.
The dispute resurfaced in October last year after the death of Wei Ling, who was living in the colonial-era house at 38 Oxley Road.
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