PUBLISHED ONNovember 06, 2025 7:13 AMBYDana LeongGazetting the site of 38 Oxley Road — home of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew — will retain its historical significance while preventing anyone from acquiring the site just to have an address associated with Lee's residence, said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo.
Giving a ministerial statement in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 6), Neo explained the Government's considerations for preserving the site in addition to the next steps needed to move forward.
He also expressed agreement with the National Heritage Board's (NHB) and the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board's (PSM AB) recommendations to gazette the site.
"It is the confluence of people, place, and events that gives a site its historical significance. We have very few such sites in Singapore, where there is such a confluence. 38 Oxley Road is one of them," he said, adding that the site is a "foundational part of Singapore's independence".
Neo stated that 38 Oxley Road had served as a venue for conversations, activities and decisions of Singapore’s founding leaders.
It is where key individuals like Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye and S. Rajaratnam had formulated their vision, plans and values for Singapore, ultimately resulting in the formation of the People's Action Party and its landslide victory in the 1959 Legislative Assembly elections, he said.
"In land-scarce Singapore, preservation is something we enter into only after a rigorous assessment process administered by NHB," he said.
"Preserving the site means we will be able to avoid a situation where private parties attempt to purchase 38 Oxley Road in future just to have an address that is associated with Mr Lee’s residence," said Neo, emphasising that it is a situation that most Singaporeans would likely want to avoid.
Neo also said that the Government's considerations were for the entire site, rather than the buildings or structures within it.
He reiterated possible plans to turn the site into a heritage park, which were shared earlier by the NHB and PSM AB on Nov 3.
If access to the site is obtained, the Government will undertake a detailed study of the buildings and structures, taking into account factors such as their existing condition, and weighing the potential benefit of retaining them against the cost, he said.
According to Neo, the Government will consider all options, including those proposed by the Ministerial Committee on 38 Oxley Road in 2018.
He also said that the Government will respect the wishes of the late Lee and his wife to protect their family's privacy by removing all traces of their private living spaces from the interior of the house, regardless of which option it takes.
"Under no circumstance will the interior of the house, as Mr Lee and Madam Kwa knew, be displayed or recorded or remodelled or duplicated elsewhere," Neo said.
Neo also raised examples of the Gandhi Ashram in India and the Independence National Historical Park in the United States, saying that 38 Oxley Road could become a similar space for public education and appreciation.
"We will keep all options open, and strive for a solution that will unite us as a country, rather than allow this to become a point of contention or division in our society," said the acting minister, who also added that the Government fully intends to conclude its plans on the exact use and configuration of the site within its current term.
During the interim period, there will be no public access to 38 Oxley Road.
In line with existing practice, a notice period of 14 calendar days will be provided to the owner and occupier of 38 Oxley Road to submit objections to NHB on the site's preservation as a national monument.
"All objections submitted and recommendations made will be considered objectively and fairly as part of due process," Neo said.
A preservation order will be made once the decision to proceed is made, where the acquisition will be done in accordance with established processes and compensation would be made in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act.
"Nothing in our approach goes against the principles of what Mr Lee held dear," said Neo.
Preserving the site does not memorialise any single leader, he said, but rather helps to safeguard the grounds where future generations can stand.
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