The acquisition process of 38 Oxley Road has been completed, with the Government taking possession of the site.
But its former owner Lee Hsien Yang has decried the move, saying it is a “flagrant disregard” for the wishes of his father, the late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Source: Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook
In a press release on Friday (31 July), the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and National Heritage Board (NHB) said the purpose of the acquisition is to preserve the site “in keeping with its historic significance and national importance”.
Thus, “necessary maintenance works” will be carried out “as required”, the statement added.
As such, there will now be no public access to the site for the time being.
Source: Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Facebook
SLA and NHB noted that the site was gazetted as a national monument on 12 Dec 2025 and subsequently gazetted for acquisition on 29 Jan.
This means that it cannot be redeveloped for residential, commercial, or private use.
At the time, the agencies said compensation would be paid to Mr Lee Hsien Yang based on the site’s market value at the gazette date and any claims submitted by affected parties.
The compensation details were not revealed in the statement.
But in a Facebook post on Friday, Mr Lee restated that his father’s wish to demolish their family home was “crystal clear”.
He and his late sister Wei Ling, as the executors of his will, sought to honour this wish, he said.
This, the acquisition is “a repudiation of his values and a flagrant disregard for his long-held wish”, he maintained, adding:
No amount of sophistry can disguise this fact.
Source: Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook
The authorities’ statement acknowledged Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes for privacy, saying that NHB will undertake a detailed study of the site.
This will include considering the options for how it can be developed into a public space, yet in a manner that respects his wishes.
Previously, SLA and NHB had underlined the Government’s commitment to removing any trace of private living spaces from the interior of the house, adding:
Under no circumstances will the interior of the house as Mr Lee knew, be displayed, recorded, remodelled or duplicated elsewhere.
In a ministerial statement in November last year, then Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo stressed that 38 Oxley Road represents more than an individual, but part of Singapore’s collective story as a “multiracial, multireligious, and sovereign nation”.
“In preserving the site, we are not memorialising any single leader,” he said, adding:
We are safeguarding the grounds where future generations can stand — to understand where we came from, who we are, and what we overcame together.
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Featured image adapted from Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook.