Mr Lee’s thoughts on house a key consideration for panel

SINGAPORE — Spelling out publicly for the first time the 38 Oxley Road Ministerial Committee’s terms of reference, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said that it would assess the house’s historical significance and Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes related to it. 

It would also look at possible future plans for the property and the neighbourhood, Mr Teo added on Monday.  
In his Ministerial Statement on the Lee family dispute, Mr Teo, who chairs the committee, said that Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang — the siblings of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong — were “duly informed” on July 27 last year about the committee’s formation and the issues it would look into regarding their family home.

This was in response to Dr Lee’s Facebook post on June 23, when she said that she and Mr Lee Hsien Yang were not informed of the committee’s membership, terms of reference, options under consideration, and “final deliverable”, despite their requests.

On June 1 last year, the Cabinet had approved a proposal by National Development Minister Lawrence Wong to set up the committee. Mr Wong is a member of the committee, along with Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, as well as Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.

Addressing what he described as “a misconception that the Government is seeking to make a decision now” about the house, Mr Teo said: “The Ministerial Committee does not decide. It is merely preparing drawer plans of various options and their implications, so that a future Government can refer to them and make a considered and informed decision when the time comes to decide on the matter.”

The house of the late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is a “key marker” of the country’s history, Mr Teo said. 

For example, the dining room in the basement was where many important discussions and decisions were made by Mr Lee and fellow pioneer leaders.

“Since we do not need to decide now how to best maintain this important historical link to the past, it might be best for the time being to avoid taking irreversible steps such as demolition and redevelopment of the site, so that we have the benefit of time to consider the matter and the merits of various options with the perspective of history,” Mr Teo said.

Another consideration is Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s thoughts on the property, and the committee had asked his three children on July 27 last year for their views on this. 

While they gave different opinions on the matter, including the drafting of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will, they were allowed to comment on each other’s points.

It is not for the committee to decide whose claims are valid, Mr Teo said, and the team’s interest is “confined to obtaining as full a picture as possible of Mr Lee (Kuan Yew’s) thinking on the house”. The legal validity of the will is a matter (to be sorted out) among the beneficiaries, he added.

Mr Teo also said that the committee is not the reason for these differences, and dissolving it does not resolve the dispute. He added that a record of these differences may be helpful as a reference when a final decision has to be made.

“Ultimately, the Government of the day and its ministers cannot avoid taking responsibility for making the required decisions on matters involving public interest,” Mr Teo said.

In response to suggestions by Members of Parliament, Mr Teo said that the process does not preclude “consultations or the involvement of some memorial committee at an appropriate time”. 

“At the appropriate time, I will see how best to seek wider public views on this,” he added.

On the committee’s objective of developing possible plans and options for 38 Oxley Road, Mr Teo said that while no decision is needed now — given that Dr Lee still lives there, as provided in the will — it is prudent to begin “the due process” needed to consider various options, as with all properties of significant public interest.