Demolition should not be an option for 38 Oxley Road bungalow
Public interest should take precedence over the wishes of an individual, regardless of his contributions.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Part of this stewardship is safeguarding the principle of putting the community’s interests ahead of a private individual’s, and it can draw a line in the sand by preserving much of 38 Oxley Road (above), says the writer.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE – As the Government works on converting 38 Oxley Road into a public space, it must address a delicate question: What should it do with a place that is clearly of historical importance but whose previous owner, Singapore’s first prime minister, wanted shielded from public glare to protect his family’s privacy?
The pre-war bungalow, which is on a site that was formally recognised as a national monument on Dec 12, was where Mr Lee Kuan Yew lived from the mid-1940s until his death in 2015. It played host to key discussions among Singapore’s founding leaders in the 1950s in the lead-up to the then colony’s transition towards self-government. Specifically, it was in the bungalow’s basement dining room that many of these discussions were held.
