4. What happens after NHB’s study is finished?

The NHB said the PSM advisory board’s study is expected to take several weeks.

The NHB will then – after considering the Advisory Board’s assessment – ​​make a recommendation to the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Affairs as to whether 38 Oxley Road should be a National Monument.

If the Minister decides that the site is worth preserving, the NHB will first issue a written notice of intent to its owner. This will make 38 Oxley Road a proposed National Monument.

Proposed national monuments have the same legal protection as national monuments in newspapers.

The notice of intent will include a “reasonable period” for the owner of the site to file objections, if any.

After the notice is served, the NHB will publish information about the proposed national monument on its heritage portal Roots.gov.sg.

If the minister decides to designate the site as a national monument, he will issue a conservation order, which must be published by law.

The NHB said that if 38 Oxley Road is made a national monument, “all options for the site will continue to be open to current and future governments, as a preservation order can be varied or revoked as the government of the day sees fit”.

Immediate demolition will preclude proper and full consideration of the above options, NHB added.

5. Can the government publicize the site despite Lee Hsien Yang’s stated desire to demolish the house?

Yes. In addition, the Monuments Preservation Act has a provision specifically for residential buildings, such as 38 Oxley Road.

The law states that if a conservation order has been made for a privately owned residence “which appears to the board to be occupied as a residential building,” the government has one year from the date of the decision to acquire the property below ground. the Acquisition Act. If it is not acquired, the order will cease – which means that the monument status of the residence is no longer valid.

The Straits Times has asked the NHB if, in the event a preservation order is made for 38 Oxley Road, whether the order will lapse after a year if the government does not acquire the property.

Dr Kevin Tan said this provision is intended to protect owners of homes “from the onerous costs of preserving and maintaining a national monument”.

Should a preservation order be made for 38 Oxley Road, he said, its owner could only appeal to the minister, whose decision is final.

“If the appeal fails, the state must acquire the property under the Land Acquisition Act 1966 within 12 months, failing which the order will lapse,” he added.

6. Does a newspaper publication on the site mean that Lee Hsien Yang eventually cannot demolish the house?

There is no legal requirement that a monument must be preserved in its entirety, which means there is an option for part or parts of 38 Oxley Road to be preserved, Professor Eugene Tan said.

This would be in line with the ministerial board’s option to keep the basement dining hall and demolish the rest of the property.

Prof Eugene Tan added: “In this case, the basement dining room, if separated from the rest of the house without affecting its integrity, can be preserved in its own right.”

He added that as Lee Hsien Yang has applied to demolish the house, Preserving the basement dining room at a different location—for example, at the upcoming Founders’ Memorial—may be another way forward.

7. Have any other private homes become national monuments?

Two other former homes are national monuments – Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and the House of Tan Yeok Nee. However, none of them functioned as residences at the time it was published.