Lee Hsien Yang says PAP government has ‘trampled’ on Lee Kuan Yew’s wish to demolish 38 Oxley Road

SINGAPORE: Lee Hsien Yang has accused the People’s Action Party (PAP) government of disregarding his late father Lee Kuan Yew’s “unwavering wish” to demolish the family home at 38 Oxley Road, which the government now intends to gazette as a national monument.

In a statement issued late on 3 November 2025, Lee said the decision “tramples on Lee Kuan Yew’s clear and private wish” for the property to be demolished.

Posting on Facebook at 11 pm, Lee, the younger brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, reiterated that their father had considered the house entirely private and “wanted it demolished in its entirety” after it was no longer lived in.

“The order to gazette 38 Oxley Road as a national monument effectively rejects the demolition application,” he wrote, adding that “the PAP government has chosen to disrespect Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy and values”.

He also noted that the Founders’ Memorial already stands as a “huge and expensive monument,” arguing that his father had opposed any such commemorative projects.

Govt says 38 Oxley Road set for national monument status, with plans for heritage park

Earlier the same day, the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced 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 said the government intends to gazette the site as a national monument.

If a preservation order is made, the government will acquire the property to safeguard and preserve it, according to the NHB.

Lee Hsien Yang had submitted an application in October 2024 to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) seeking permission to demolish the property.

On 3 November 2025, he received a formal notice of the government’s intention to preserve the site.

He has until 17 November 2025 to submit objections, after which Minister Neo will “consider every objection” before making a final decision.

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, lived at 38 Oxley Road from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015.

The single-storey bungalow, built in the 19th century, served as the early headquarters of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and was the site of pivotal meetings that shaped Singapore’s political history.

The property has been at the centre of a long-running family dispute since Lee Kuan Yew’s passing on 23 March 2015.

His three children — Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, and Dr Lee Wei Ling — have differed sharply on the fate of the house.

According to past reports, Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling maintained that their father’s will instructed that the house be demolished once it was no longer inhabited.

Lee Hsien Loong, however, believed their father was open to considering alternatives if the government decided otherwise.

Lee Hsien Loong — who had inherited the house under his father’s will — transferred ownership to Lee Hsien Yang at market value in late 2015.

Dr Lee Wei Ling continued living there until her death on 9 October 2024.

Back in 2017, when addressing the issue of Lee Kuan Yew’s will, Lee Hsien Yang noted that probate had been granted on 6 October 2015, confirming it as final and legally binding, and pointed out that his brother LHL raised no legal challenge at the time.

Lee Hsien Yang moves to fulfil his late father’s will, seeking to demolish 38 Oxley Road following Dr Lee Wei Ling’s passing

Following his sister’s passing, Lee Hsien Yang applied to the URA on 21 October 2024 for permission to demolish the property, fulfilling what he described as his father’s final will dated 17 December 2013.

In a Facebook post marking the first anniversary of his sister Lee Wei Ling’s death in October 2025, Lee Hsien Yang reiterated that both she and their father had wished for the demolition of the house after it was no longer inhabited.

He referenced earlier deliberations dating back to 2010, noting that a ministerial committee had already studied the matter between 2016 and 2017.

Lee Wei Ling had lived in the house until her death, fulfilling a condition in her father’s final will dated 17 December 2013, which stipulated that demolition should follow once the property ceased to be used as a residence.

Her will, consistent with her parents’ wishes, was granted probate, and Lee Hsien Yang proceeded with a demolition application in October 2024.

On the tenth anniversary of his father’s death in March 2025, he again called on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to “honour Lee Kuan Yew’s final wish” and to “stop kicking the can down the road”.