‘Lee Kuan Yew had mulled over preservation of Oxley Road house’

SINGAPORE—  Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was not one to insist that his views should prevail, and was willing to “change his views (when) presented with robust arguments”, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday (July 4).

Weighing in on a debate in Parliament centering on the Lee family home at 38 Oxley Road, Mr Heng set out for the first time what transpired during a meeting in July 2011, when Mr Lee met the new Cabinet to express his preference for the property to be demolished after his passing.

Despite Mr Lee’s seniority and his role as Singapore’s founding prime minister, he “did not once use his status to advance his case”, said Mr Heng, who served as Mr Lee’s Principal Private Secretary from mid-1997 to early 2000, when Mr Lee was Senior Minister.

“(Mr Lee Kuan Yew) just stated his preference, and then listened intently to the views of Cabinet ministers. Except for PM (Lee Hsien Loong), who did not speak, Cabinet members were unanimous in persuading him that the house should not be demolished. All of us who spoke felt deeply that, as a young nation, we needed a deeper sense of history, and that the house was of historical significance.”
Mr Lee Kuan Yew “looked very thoughtful” after the session, and wrote to the Cabinet five months later. 

He said that he had “reflected” on the matter and decided that if 38 Oxley Road were to be preserved, it “needs to have its foundations reinforced and the whole building refurbished”.

“It must then be let out for people to live in. An empty building will soon decline and decay,” he had written.

Mr Heng said: “To me, that note, sent five months after the meeting, showed that he had been mulling over the issue during that period, and, importantly, he had taken other views on board … I share this experience to show Mr Lee’s willingness to change his views if he was presented with robust arguments.”

The same willingness to consider alternative views was mirrored in how Mr Lee Kuan Yew changed his views on bilingual education, and was convinced after “evaluating the evidence over the years” of the benefits in giving young children early exposure to languages, he added.

In his speech, Mr Heng also acknowledged how Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s three children had contributed to Singapore in different ways. 

He noted that PM Lee had been in public service all his life, and Mr Lee Hsien Yang had served in the Singapore Armed Forces and then Singtel. Mr Heng called Dr Lee Wei Ling a “passionate paediatric neurologist” who built up the National Neuroscience Institute well, and thanked her for her concern when he was hospitalised last year following a stroke.

The minister noted that in a Facebook post last Saturday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang had written: “I simply hope to ensure our father’s wishes are honoured when the day comes”.

Mr Heng said: “I believe I speak for all Members in this House, and many Singaporeans, when I say, we all hope to do the same, to honour Mr Lee’s wishes. 

“Furthermore, to honour his legacy and the ideals and principles of our founding fathers.”

Noting that it is “probable” for a future government to demolish the bungalow at 38 Oxley Road, as the late prime minister had wished, Mr Heng said: “But there is another house that Mr Lee Kuan Yew built lovingly, a greater house than 38 Oxley Road —and that is Singapore. This house we cannot allow to be demolished.”