He “understood that the government would have to preserve the house if it decided that was in the public interest,” Loong wrote in a 2016 letter to Lawrence Wong, who was part of a government committee created to consider options for the property, and is now prime minister.
That panel concluded that the bungalow had historical significance, and that Lee Kuan Yew had been amenable to its preservation. But polls indicate that most Singaporeans want it torn down. In October, the government said it was again studying 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 in charge of the household at 38 Oxley Road, in one of Singapore’s most expensive areas.
In the 1950s, Mr. Lee and a group of friends set up his political party, the P.A.P., in the basement dining room. Most of the house was spartan. The furniture was old and mismatched; the family bathed by scooping water from earthenware vessels. Even after the sons had married and moved out, they gathered every Sunday for family lunch.
Visitors were quick to notice that only one child’s photographs were displayed: Loong’s.
“He got the best combination of our two DNAs,” Mr. Lee would tell local journalists. “The others have also combinations of both, but not in as advantageous a way as he has. It’s the luck of the draw.”
