(Oct 24): Singapore temporarily blocked the demolition of the house of its first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, as it weighs whether to preserve the property that has sparked a yearslong feud among his children.

An application by the patriarch’s youngest son, Lee Hsien Yang, to destroy the home near the Orchard Road shopping strip isn’t being granted for now, according to a Facebook post by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.

“It is important that we approach the matter with an open mind,” Tong wrote. Demolishing the house immediately would “rule out options which can be considered”, he said.

It’s the latest development in a bitter family battle that centres over a disagreement over whether to demolish the home. The 67-year-old Hsien Yang and his late sister Lee Wei Ling have accused their elder brother, former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, of attempting to undermine their father’s instructions to destroy it, in part by creating a 2018 ministerial committee to explore options for the property.

The dispute resurfaced this month after the death of Wei Ling, who was living in the colonial-era house at 38 Oxley Road. Hsien Yang didn’t return for the funeral and sought permission from the authorities to demolish the house.

Earlier this week, Hsien Yang said he’d been given political asylum by the UK government on grounds of persecution. In a 12-page response to media questions, Singapore’s government said there are no legal restraints on Hsien Yang or his wife, and they are both free to return.

The controversy risks becoming a headache for current Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as he prepares to lead the ruling People’s Action Party into an election that must be held by late next year.

The committee in 2018 has laid out three options for the house: demolition, retaining it as a national monument or preserving just the basement dining room, where debates over the founding of the ruling PAP took place. It deferred making a decision while Wei Ling was still living there.

In a separate statement, the country’s National Heritage Board, which had earlier prepared a 31-page research report on the property for the committee, said it will begin a new study “to assess if the site has national historical, heritage, and architectural significance as to be worthy of preservation”. Other possible options for the property could emerge, it added.

The board, which oversees the country’s monuments, didn’t give a timeline for the study. It said it will submit a recommendation to Tong, the minister, over whether to issue an order to preserve the site.