November 5, 2025
SINGAPORE – The Government on Nov 3 announced its intention to gazette 38 Oxley Road – the site of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s family home – as a national monument.
If gazetted and subsequently acquired by the Government, the site will be converted into a public space such as a heritage park, the authorities said.
The National Heritage Board (NHB) started this process on Nov 3 by issuing a written notice – formally called a notice of intention – to the site’s owner, Mr Lee Hsien Yang.
The notice states Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo’s intention to gazette the site as a national monument.
Buildings, structures and sites become national monuments when the culture, community and youth minister makes a preservation order to place them under the NHB’s protection.
The Straits Times unpacks what could happen in the lead-up to the site officially becoming a national monument.
What happens now that the Government has decided to gazette 38 Oxley Road as a national monument?
When Mr Lee was issued the notice of intention on Nov 3, the site at 38 Oxley Road became legally known as a proposed national monument.
Proposed national monuments are accorded similar protections as gazetted monuments, and those who alter or change monuments in a way that affects their character and significance face punishment under the Preservation of Monuments Act.
Mr Lee has two weeks, or until Nov 17, to submit any objections to the planned preservation order.
Mr Neo will then consider objections received – if any – before making a final decision on whether to place a preservation order on the site, which will legally give it national monument status.
The law does not dictate how long the minister can take to decide on whether he will make a preservation order after the notice of intention is issued.
This means it is not publicly known when 38 Oxley Road will be gazetted should Mr Neo’s final decision be to gazette it.
Will any objections received by the NHB stop 38 Oxley Road from being gazetted as a national monument?
No. The Preservation of Monuments Act obliges the minister to consider every objection received to the planned preservation order.
There is nothing to stop the minister from making a preservation order thereafter.
Administrative law expert Kevin Tan, an adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore, said the minister’s decision is final.
He said this means that unless there is an objection based on illegality, irrationality, or breach of the rules of natural justice, there is no further way to challenge the preservation order.
Professor Tan said illegality could include, for example, a situation where the minister exceeded his jurisdiction, failed to exercise his discretion properly, or acted in bad faith.
What will happen after a preservation order is issued?
The Government plans to acquire the site if a preservation order is issued. Post-acquisition, public officers can assess the physical condition of the property, and also prepare preservation guidelines – a document that spells out exact features of the monument which must be preserved.
According to a report published in 2018 by a ministerial committee tasked to study the future of 38 Oxley Road, “once a preservation order is served upon the owner and the occupier (if different from the owner) of the monument, the architecture of the property (including the dining room) cannot be modified in any manner contrary to the preservation guidelines issued by the NHB”.
Each monument is issued a unique set of preservation guidelines.
It was in the property’s dining room that “ideas and decisions that came to shape Singapore’s future were discussed and made” by key players in 1950s politics, said the report.
The report noted that, “given that the property is currently being occupied as a dwelling house, the state is legally required to acquire it within one year from the date of the preservation order”.
“This is to free the owner from all forms of imposition arising from the preservation,” it added.
Dr Lee Wei Ling – Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter – was the last known resident of the house. She died in the home on Oct 9, 2024.
After acquisition, a physical study of the site is needed to prepare the preservation guidelines mentioned in the ministerial committee report. It is otherwise not possible for NHB officers to determine which features found on the site – and the structures within it – are worth preserving.
However, the NHB said on Nov 3 that the authorities “have not had the chance to assess the state of the buildings and structures” within 38 Oxley Road.
ST has sought clarification from the NHB on whether any public officers have attempted to enter the site to study it.
The NHB said in a statement to ST that preservation guidelines are prepared after a preservation order is made.
For instance, when 11 features were collectively gazetted as part of Fort Siloso, Singapore’s 74th national monument, in 2022, the director of NHB’s preservation of sites and monuments division, Ms Jean Wee, said the preservation guidelines would take at least two years to produce.
For 38 Oxley Road, the authorities have indicated that preservation guidelines will be prepared only after the property is acquired by the Government and becomes state property, which public officers can enter without requiring permission from a private owner.
Without the NHB’s written permission, no work should be done on a monument or proposed monument from the time a notice of intention is given until the preservation guidelines are issued.
Work done after that also requires the board’s written permission.
Prof Tan said that making a preservation order on a site that public officers have not been able to enter is a pre-emptive move that protects it from damage.
“An officer does not need to be in a site to know of its historical and national importance,” he said, adding that this is especially true for structures that are not being kept because of architectural merit.
What will the national monument at 38 Oxley Road comprise?
Based on a draft preservation order issued alongside the notice of intention, the monument will comprise the land lot that the property sits on, as well as buildings and structures within the land lot.
The lot has an area of about 1,100 sq m, which is about the size of 2½ basketball courts.
MAP: STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS
How will the compensation that Mr Lee Hsien Yang receives for 38 Oxley Road be determined?
Should a preservation order for 38 Oxley Road be made, the property will be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. Compensation will be determined in accordance with the Act, and account for the market value of the site as at the date of acquisition.
The Singapore Land Authority, which manages state land – including through acquisitions – will appoint a professional property valuer to assist it in determining the market value of the site.
Mr Karamjit Singh, chief executive of property consultancy Delasa, said that in general, the key factors that valuers consider are location, tenure and redevelopment potential.
He noted that the redevelopment potential is affected by several factors, such as the site’s area, whether a land betterment charge is payable upon redevelopment, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s plan for the site.
Mr Singh added that for old houses being purchased for their redevelopment potential, buyers tend to disregard the value and condition of the existing house, but instead consider how many new homes they can build on the site, and how much they can sell these homes for.
Prof Tan said that parties affected by the acquisitions under the Land Acquisition Act may appeal against the compensation to be awarded, but not against the acquisition itself.
This means that Mr Lee will not be able to stop the acquisition.
Why does gazetting the site as a national monument not oblige the Government to preserve all the buildings and structures on the site in their current state?
The Preservation of Monuments Act allows the minister to amend or revoke the preservation order.
The Act also allows for structures and parts of buildings to be gazetted as a national monument.
One possibility laid out by the ministerial committee in 2018 was to gazette only the property’s dining room – the most historically significant part of the house – while allowing the rest of the house to be demolished.
The basement dining room at 38 Oxley Road. This was where the founding members of the PAP discussed setting up a new party. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Doing so, said the committee, is one way to fulfil Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wish to tear down the building.
It, however, noted that there may be a loss of context if the dining room is retained, but not the rest of the property.
The founding prime minister had stated in his will his wish for the building to be torn down.
He also said in his will that if demolition was not possible, the house should “never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants”.
The NHB said on Nov 3 that if the property is gazetted and acquired, the Government will remove all traces of private living spaces to respect Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes for privacy. It did not give its definition of “private living spaces”.
One example of a building that was only partially gazetted as a national monument is the former Cathay Building in Handy Road.
The facade of the building was gazetted as a monument in February 2003, while the rest of it was replaced by a modern glass-cladded building in the 2000s.
Additional reporting by Grace Leong