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 property agents in 2024 said had a prospective value of around S$30 million (US$23 million) in land-scarce Singapore.
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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.
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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.