Lee Hsien Yang fulfils sister Lee Wei Ling's final wish with sea burial in Edinburgh
In a brief and emotional Facebook post titled 'Farewell,' Lee described taking his sister on 'one last boat ride,' to honour her request for a sea burial.
He wrote, 'Ling and I went to Scotland on our own when we were still in school. We toured the countryside, and stayed in Edinburgh, climbed Arthur's Seat, and visited Edinburgh castle.'
He noted that Dr Lee often returned to the country alone in later years for medical examinations and hiking trips in the Scottish hills.
Calling her 'principled, steadfast, and indomitable,' Lee's post marked a deeply personal farewell to the last surviving resident of the family home at 38 Oxley Road.
Dr Lee Wei Ling passed away on 9 October 2024, aged 69, following a long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder she had been diagnosed with in 2020.
Her will, which reiterated the explicit wish of her parents—Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo—for the demolition of their house at 38 Oxley Road, has since been granted probate.
Lee Hsien Yang, along with his sons Li Shengwu and Li Huanwu, was named executor of her estate.
Due to their prolonged absence from Singapore, driven by fears of political persecution, it was Li Huanwu who oversaw Dr Lee's funeral arrangements.
In 2023, British authorities confirmed that Lee Hsien Yang and his wife Lee Suet Fern had been granted political asylum in the United Kingdom.
Following the probate, Lee Hsien Yang filed a formal application on 21 October 2024 with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to demolish 38 Oxley Road.
He cited both his parents' and Dr Lee's wishes, which are explicitly outlined in their respective wills, as the motivation for the application.
'As 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,' he stated.
He also expressed plans to build a small private dwelling in place of the original structure, with the property to remain within the family in perpetuity.
The URA application triggered renewed scrutiny of 38 Oxley Road's status. The National Heritage Board (NHB) launched a fresh assessment to determine whether the site should be preserved as a National Monument.
The house, once the residence of Lee Kuan Yew and his family, has long been the subject of debate over its heritage value versus private wishes.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong clarified that while the 2018 Ministerial Committee report did include NHB research, it had not been formally evaluated by the Preservation of Monuments Advisory Board.
The current review, he said, aims to ensure that 'objective criteria are applied' in any recommendation for national preservation.
This renewed assessment has drawn criticism from opposition Members of Parliament.
Progress Singapore Party Secretary General Leong Mun Wai and Workers' Party MP Chua Kheng Wee Louis questioned the necessity of duplicating prior research already documented in 2018.
They also raised concerns about whether the current government was acting in contradiction to Lee Kuan Yew's repeatedly stated preference that the house be demolished to prevent it becoming a public shrine.
Public sentiment has largely supported the demolition of the house.
Surveys and public commentary indicate that many Singaporeans believe that preserving 38 Oxley Road would contravene Lee Kuan Yew's personal principles, including his emphasis on modesty and aversion to personality cults.
Supporters of Lee Hsien Yang's stance argue that to uphold Lee Kuan Yew's legacy is to respect his explicit instructions.
The government's efforts to explore preservation, however, continue to fuel speculation about political motivations, especially in light of past tensions within the Lee family.
Despite these developments, the final decision regarding the property's future remains pending.
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