The contentious site of the family home of Singapore's Lee family now appears set to become a national monument.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) has announced its intent to preserve it as such, although there is an appeal process in which the property owner can raise an objection.

Said property owner is Lee Hsien Yang, brother of Senior Minister and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

It remains to be seen what the younger Lee will do. In the meantime, here's a rundown of the Lee family’s decade-long dispute.

Why did Lee Kuan Yew want Oxley Road demolished at first?

Before his death in 2015, Lee Kuan Yew said on multiple occasions that he wanted the house demolished, although he later softened his stance towards the matter.

As early as in October 2010, he said that he’d discussed the matter with his family. They agreed that the property “should not be kept as a kind of relic for people to tramp through”, he said.

“38 Oxley Road has no merit as architecture. So please respect my wish to have it demolished when I am no longer around.”

His concerns were utilitarian, relating to the cost of the restoration works, its possible deterioration, and its effects on land value.

His wife, Kwa Geok Choo, was more concerned about her family’s privacy.

“My mother…was most distressed at the thought of people coming through her private spaces after she and my father had passed away, to see how they had lived,” SM Lee said during a 2015 parliamentary sitting.

“She felt strongly that her private living spaces should always remain private.”

What were the objections and why?

When Lee Kuan Yew shared his perspective in his 2011 book, Hard Truths, there was a strong public reaction.

To discuss the matter, SM Lee held a special meeting with Cabinet ministers in December 2011 to discuss the matter.

The ministers tried hard to change his mind, the younger Lee recalled. His father later wrote to Cabinet with a concession:

Years later, when the ministerial committee on 38 Oxley Road released their 2018 report, they would echo those Cabinet ministers’ sentiments, finding it to have “architectural, heritage, and historical significance”.

They pointed to the property’s role in the years before Singapore’s independence. Around 20 people, including many of Singapore’s founding fathers, would regularly hold meetings in the basement dining room to discuss setting up a new political party.

After Singapore won its independence, 38 Oxley Road became the People’s Action Party’s first election office. Posters and banners were prepared on the verandah.

What happened after Lee Kuan Yew died?

This is where it gets a bit complicated.

Prior to Lee Kuan Yew’s death, SM Lee and his wife Ho Ching had come up with an alternative proposal to renovate the house and change the inside completely.

The plan was to demolish the private living spaces to preserve the family’s privacy, keep the basement dining room, strengthen the building’s structure, and create a new and separate living area so people could live in it.

Lee Kuan Yew accepted this, and in Dec. 2011 told the family it was “best to redevelop 38 Oxley Road straightaway”.

When he died, he left the house to SM Lee.

But he included a demolition clause, apparently reverting to his initial staunch opposition to keeping the house — an addition which had not been present in the past two wills.

When did the dispute begin?

In the months that followed, the three Lee siblings agreed that their father’s wish was to have the house demolished, and they hoped to see it honoured.

In December 2015, SM Lee issued a joint statement with his brother and sister, saying that they “hope the government will allow the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wish for the demolition of the house to be honoured”.

SM Lee also recused himself from all government decisions involving 38 Oxley Road.

However in Jul. 14, 2017, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling issued a statement accusing their brother of misrepresenting their father for political gain.

They claimed that SM Lee and Ho Ching opposed their father’s wish to demolish his house, as its preservation would “enhance his political capital”.

In response, SM Lee shared a five-page statement raising"serious questions" about how Lee Kuan Yew's final will had been prepared.

It was the only one of the elder Lee's seven wills that had been prepared by Lee Hsien Yang's wife, Lee Suet Fern, instead of Lee Kuan Yew's lawyer Kwa Kim Li.

There was also a secondary dispute concerning SM Lee's ownership of the house.

After the 2015 General Election, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling agreed to a proposal to buy the house from their elder brother at market value.

Both brothers would then donate an equivalent to half that value to charity. In the meantime, Lee Wei Ling would continue living in the house for as long as she wished.

Lee Hsien Yang and his wife subsequently left Singapore while under police investigation for potential offences relating to Lee Kuan Yew's will.

What happened after Lee Wei Ling’s death?

On Oct. 9, 2024, Lee Wei Ling passed away. She was 69.

Both brothers posted separate eulogies for their late sister on social media. In his eulogy, Lee Hsien Yang shared a statement that he said Lee Wei Ling had wanted conveyed after her death:

“Please honour my father by honouring his wish for his home to be demolished.“

Lee Hsien Yang subsequently said that as the now-sole owner, he would apply to demolish the house at 38 Oxley Road.

He added that he would build a “small private dwelling” to be held by the family in perpetuity.

On Oct. 24, 2024, NHB acknowledged his statement but said that demolishing the house now would"rule out a proper and full consideration" of the available options for the property.

It added that it would begin a study to assess if it was worthy of preservation.