He intends to build a small private dwelling on the plot ‘to be held within the family in perpetuity’
LEE Hsien Yang is applying to demolish his family home at 38 Oxley Road where his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, lived before she died on Oct 9.
The younger son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew shared in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 15) that he intended to “build a small private dwelling to be held within the family in perpetuity” in the demolished asset’s place.
He also reiterated his father’s wishes for the house to be demolished “immediately after” Dr Lee moved out.
“I am the sole legal owner of 38 Oxley Road. After my sister’s passing, I am the only living executor of my father Lee Kuan Yew’s estate… It is my duty to carry out his wishes to the fullest extent of the law.”
Citing his brother Lee Hsien Loong’s 2015 Parliament statement that it would be up to “the government of the day” to decide whether to allow demolition, he added: “It has been nine years. That day is today.”
The Facebook post accompanied a screenshot excerpt of the demolition clause of Lee Kuan Yew’s will, which read:
7. I further declare that it is my wish, and the wish of my late wife, KWA GEOK CHOO, that our house at 38 Oxley Road, Singapore 238629 (“the House”) be demolished immediately after my death, or if my daughter, Wei Ling, would prefer to continue living in the original house, immediately after she moves out of the House. I would ask each of my children to ensure our wishes with respect to the demolition of the House be carried out. If our children are unable to demolish the House as a result of any changes in the laws, rules or regulations binding them, it is my wish that the House never be opened to others except my children, their families and descendants. My view on this has been made public before and remains unchanged. My statement of wishes in this paragraph 7 may be publicly disclosed notwithstanding that the rest of my Will is private.
