Lee Hsien Loong-appointed Ministerial Select Committee yesterday (April 2) claimed that it “found” evidences of Lee Kuan Yew was “prepared to accept” other options than a demolition. The Ministerial Committee re-arranged the order of events by making the last will a trilogy interpretation of Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes.
Divided into three parts, the committee called the demolition clause the “first part” despite it happening years later than the “second” and “third” part. The Select Committee also omitted the fact that the last will made no mention of preservation of 38 Oxley Road.
According to the Ministerial Committee report, Lee Kuan Yew sent a letter to Cabinet Ministers in July 2011 and this is the “second part”:
“Cabinet members were unanimous that the house should not be demolished as I wanted. I have reflected on this and decided that if 38 Oxley Road is 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.”
The Ministerial Committee added that Lee Kuan Yew allowed 38 Oxley Road to be renovated in May 2012, where he approved Ho Ching’s proposal to get an architect. This evidence was re-arranged as the “third part”.
The Lee Hsien Loong-controlled Ministerial Committee wilfully re-arranged the order of the last will dated 17 Dec 2013, where the former Prime Minister expressly stated that the house must be demolished. The letter below is referred as “first part” by the Ministerial Committee:
“I further declare that it is my wish and the wish of my late wife … that our house at 38 Oxley Road … (“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 law, 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 … may be publicly disclosed notwithstanding that the rest of my Will is private.”
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wishes to preserve the house and make it into a place of worship for his Lee family legacy.