38 Oxley Road: A home of historic significance

It was where plans were hatched, movements took root and a nation's destiny was debated. Should the fate of the 19th century bungalow be simply to preserve or demolish?

- Tan Tai Yong

During the 1955 Legislative Assembly elections, the first participated by the newly established People's Action Party (PAP), 38 Oxley Road, the family home of the party's secretary-general, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, served as the party headquarters and election office.

Press conferences were held there, banners and posters were made at the porch, and wives of PAP members sewed cloth rosettes for their husbands in the house.

The Malay postal workers affected in the 1952 Singapore Post strike were grateful to Mr Lee for his past legal assistance, and were said to have availed themselves as runners, gathering in front of the porch waiting to be dispatched as needed.

They distributed campaign pamphlets in the Tanjong Pagar area.

There are ample colonial edifices that remind us of our past as part of the British empire, but there are not many physical markers that bear witness to our path to independence.

The former City Hall is a significant monument in this regard. On Sept 16, 1963, Mr Lee read the Proclamation of Malaysia from its steps, announcing the end of colonial rule and the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which included Singapore as a member state.

It was also on those steps that Mr Lee was sworn in as Singapore's first prime minister, signifying Singapore's attainment of full internal self-government.

On Dec 3, 1959, large crowds gathered outside City Hall to witness the installation of Mr Yusof Ishak as Singapore's first Yang di-Pertuan Negara. The event also marked the inaugural presentation of Majulah Singapura, the state crest and the state flag.

NATIONAL IMPORTANCE When thinking of national monuments in Singapore, 38 Oxley Road might not readily come to mind. The largely nondescript 19th century single-storey bungalow was the private residence of Mr Lee, Singapore's founding prime minister, from the 1950s until his death in 2015.