SINGAPORE, Nov. 3 -- The Singapore government has reportedly announced plans to gazette 38 Oxley Road, the former home of the republic's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, as a national monument.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) said its Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board found the property to be of national significance and historic value, Singapore's The Straits Times reported today.

If a preservation order is issued, the government intends to acquire the site and convert it into a public space, possibly a heritage park, according to a joint statement by the NHB and the Singapore Land Authority.

The property is owned by Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and has long been at th...