KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — The Singapore government has gazetted the bungalow at 38 Oxley Road as a national monument, effective today.
However, the gazettement “does not mean that the building and structures within must be kept in their original state”, The Straits Times reported yesterday, citing the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the National Heritage Board (NHB).
“The appropriate treatment of the building and structures will be subject to further study, once the Government has access to the site,” the two agencies were quoted as saying in a joint statement.
They also said the government remains committed to respecting the wishes of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, particularly on privacy concerns.
“Nevertheless, to respect Mr Lee’s wishes, the Government has committed to removing the private living spaces from the interior of the building to protect the privacy of Mr Lee and his family under all eventual options,” the agencies added.
The gazettement comes amid a protracted debate over the fate of the property, which includes a basement dining room where founding members of the People’s Action Party – including Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, S. Rajaratnam and K. M. Byrne – met in the 1950s to discuss forming the party.
On November 6 this year, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee told Parliament that all options proposed by a ministerial committee in 2018 remain applicable, including preserving the entire bungalow, retaining only the basement dining room, or demolishing the structure for redevelopment, such as a park or heritage centre.
In a Facebook post last night, Lee Hsien Yang – the younger son of Kuan Yew and the property owner – reiterated claims he had previously made that his father was misled into believing that 38 Oxley Road had already been gazetted.
