The bungalows were built for Dutch merchants during colonial times but have become part of modern Singapore legend. This is where Lee Kuan Yew lived for decades, founded a political party and began to turn Singapore into one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Rather than preserve it as a museum, Lee said he wanted the house to be demolished after his death and the public to ‘trample’ his private quarters.
However, the wording of his will left the fate of the estate uncertain and caused a rift between his three children. This reflects the intense debate over Singapore’s anti-authoritarian political system.
Now, they are joined by those who complain that the city-state’s prosperity has come at the expense of an unaccountable government – one of Lee Myung-bak’s children.
“I think there is one good man at the center who can get this under control, and we can only rely on his mercy to make sure everything is done right.” This is Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest child who wants to respect his father’s wishes. the house said in a recent interview with The New York Times in London.
After Lee Kuan Yew’s death in 2015, his eldest son, then Singapore’s prime minister, claimed his father’s bungalow instructions were vague. Her siblings wanted the house demolished, but one continued to live in the house, and as long as she did so, the fate of the house remained unresolved.
Then, after her death in October, the conflict resurfaced and escalated rapidly. Lee Hsien Yang, called Yang by his parents and siblings, announced that he had gained political asylum in the UK, fearing that he would be unjustly imprisoned in Singapore for his disagreements.
Mr Yang said his older brother Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down as prime minister in May, had abused his power in the conflict over the House of Representatives.
Mr. Yang, 67, explained the pattern of persecution imposed by the Singapore government in recent years: In 2020, his son was charged with contempt of court for criticizing Singapore courts in a personal Facebook post. That year, his wife, a lawyer who had provided witnesses for the signing of the chieftain’s will, was banned from practicing law for 15 months. The couple were then questioned by police for lying under oath. They left Singapore in 2022.
Last October, Yang announced that Britain had approved his asylum request, ruling that he and his wife “have a well-founded fear of persecution and cannot return to their country of origin.”
The Singapore government dismissed the couple’s claims, saying they were free to return home. It said the responsibility lies with voters and an independent judiciary. Mr Yang added that he had carried out an “outrageous personal vendetta” against his older brother Rong.
Mr Loong, 72, who currently holds a senior ministerial position, declined to comment as he has recused himself from the matter in the House of Commons.
Mr Yang said the years of controversy were evidence of “fundamental problems with the way Singapore is governed and run”.
Yang acknowledged that his father had detained opposition politicians and union leaders, but said he “put the country’s interests first.”
The People’s Action Party has held a tight grip on Singapore for nearly 70 years. And even years after the founding father’s death, his legacy continues to be celebrated.
Some analysts say this puts Singapore at a crossroads.
“Can we move on?” Ja Ian Chong, who teaches political science at the National University of Singapore, said: “Or are we still stuck in a relatively weak, heavy-handed approach to politics?”
Lee Kuan Yew transformed a colonial outpost into an economic powerhouse in one generation. He made no bones about intervening in the lives of Singaporeans and prioritized the community over the individual. Some observers say this points to the irony of family discord.
“He understood that the government should preserve the house if it decided it was in the public interest,” Loong wrote in a 2016 letter to Lawrence Wong, who was part of a government committee created to consider property options. Now Prime Minister.
The panel concluded that the bungalow was of historical significance and that Lee Kuan Yew could have preserved it. However, opinion polls show that most Singaporeans want the building to be demolished. Last October the government said it was studying again whether to preserve the circa 1898 house.
‘The best combination’
For decades, Lee Kuan Yew’s family appeared to be as orderly as the state he ran. His wife, Kwa Geok Choo, was responsible for running the household at 38 Oxley Road, one of Singapore’s most expensive areas.
In the 1950s, Lee and friends founded his political party, the PAP, in a basement restaurant. most The house was Spartan. The furniture was old and mismatched. The family took water from an earthenware vessel and took a bath. Even after the sons got married and moved, the family gathered for lunch every Sunday.
Visitors quickly noticed that only one child’s photo was on display: Loong’s.
“He had the best combination of both our DNA,” Lee told a local journalist. “Others have combined the two, but not as advantageously. “It’s the luck of the draw.”
“He was my mother’s dearest man, and she had ambitions for him,” Yang said of Loong. “I was never hostile toward that person, and I never had any jealousy or envy toward him.”
In 2004, Loong became prime minister. Mr Yang was the CEO of Singapore’s state-owned telephone company at the time and said he had no political ambitions. Then it will change.
demolition debate
After Mr. Lee’s wife died, he continued to live in the house with his daughter, Dr. Lee Wei Ling, a neurologist. Mr Lee died in March 2015, and the following month his children gathered at his bungalow to read his will.
The house was left to Loong, but Ling was able to continue living there. The house was scheduled to be demolished when she moved out. And even if for some reason the house wasn’t torn down, he didn’t want it to be open to the public.
Loong was blind and later publicly stated that he did not know about this final will. When the will was being discussed, his sister wrote in a previously undisclosed email to a friend in May 2015 that Loong was “aggressive” and “threatening.” She said the government would step in and declare the house a national monument if Loong pushed for a demolition clause for his brothers.
According to Yang, this was the last time Loong spoke with Ling and Yang.
The next day, Loong raised the issue in parliament. He said he wanted his father’s will to be done, but “it will be up to the government of the day to consider this matter.”
After a few months, the brothers seemed to have made up their mind. Mr. Yang bought the house from Rong. For an undisclosed price.
But soon the government set up a committee to explore options for housing. This marked the beginning of Yang’s national problems.
new opposition party
Loong told the panel he was “very concerned” that the demolition clause in the will had been “re-inserted under questionable circumstances”. He asked whether there was a conflict of interest with Yang’s wife, Lee Suet-Fun, who arranged the signing of the will.
To his siblings, the committee appeared to be “conducting an inquiry into the will,” Yang said, noting that the court had declared it binding.
In a joint statement in 2017, Yang and Ling said they did not trust their older brother as a leader. They said Loong and his wife were milking “Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy for their own political purposes” and harbored dynastic ambitions for their son.
Loong told the council that he gave no direction to the committee and that his only dealings with the panel were written responses to the committee’s requests.
He refused to appoint his son to public office.
The government then accused Yang’s wife of business misconduct related to the will. The disciplinary tribunal ruled against her, saying she and her husband had created a “sophisticated edifice of lies” during the trial.
The three-judge panel ruled that Yang’s wife, Lee, had “falsely described her role in the will, and as a result, provided an untrue account” and suspended her for 15 months for the misconduct. But it also ruled that she did not act as Lee’s attorney and was satisfied with Lee’s will.
To Mr. Yang, the People’s Action Party has lost its way. He joined the new opposition Progress Singapore Party and even considered running for president, a ceremonial position.
In 2022, police requested to interview him and his wife, saying they had lied in a misconduct case. The couple agreed to be questioned later, but left Singapore soon after. It was not until 2023 that the minister revealed to parliament that he was being investigated by authorities.
In October, Yang organized Ling’s funeral from afar. Loong was not invited.
The walls of 38 Oxley Road are now cracking and part of the gate has been eroded by rust. When a reporter rang the doorbell on a recent Sunday, a housekeeper answered and said no one was home.
