The Aw family had a huge collection of jade pieces which they put on display. It was opened to public viewing even when the family was still living there. The building and the jade collection survived World War II. The jade pieces were put in crates and concealed underground to prevent pillaging Japanese troops from confiscating them.
The family house became known as the House of Jade and it was on the tourist trail back then. In 1979 the family donated almost the entire Aw Collection of jade to the National Musuem.
In 1990 the House of Jade was torn down and well-known, well-connected hotelier Ong Beng Seng, using his vehicle, the listed public company Hotel Properties Ltd, began construction on the site for a high end condo. Nassim Jade was opened for soft sale in 1995 and amongst the first buyers were Lee Kuan Yew, his son Lee Hsien Loong. OBS offered the privilege to LHL and LKY but soon family members and many other high ranking bureaucrats wanted in, and there were many of them. They were all given varied discounts. This drew the ire of HPL shareholders who were peeved at not being given first bite. The drama spilled into the public sphere and caused much disquiet.
Pre-launch soft sales to select buyers and discounts are nothing to get ordinary Singaporeans flustered. It's industry practice. However, in this instance, there were issues of conflict-of-interest as Dennis Lee (LKY's brother) was a director in HPL, breach of Security Exchange regulations as HPL is a listed company, and the public's view of impropriety on the part of bureaucrats to accept special discounts.
The public furore caused Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to have Minister of Finance to investigate the matter. The task fell on the lap of central bank Dy Director Koh Beng Seng who eventually reported no wrong doing. (Despite the favourable report, Koh lost his job soon after - which was something my brother and I prophesised back then.) The government tabled for discussion in parliament and all parties were cleared.
The SEC gave OBS a slap on the wrist with a strong reprimand and left HPL director Dennis Lee untouched. LKY and LHL donated the discounts received to charity. And everybody lived happily ever after.
On the question of whether any crimes were committed, there is none, based on what the public knew. There was'nt any breach of laws or regulations relating to acceptance of gifts or gratification in the Prevention of Corruption Act. LKL and LHL were invited to buy in a soft launch where discounts are normal.
This episode was fully discussed in coffee shops, in the internet, in parliament. Koh Beng Seng investigated, Francis Seow wrote about this in Beyond Suspicion? The Singapore Judiciary. Opposition leader Tan Liang Howe brought this up and got himself into a libel suit, There was absolutely no corruption on the basis of all that has been discussed in public.
But everyone was asking all the wrong questions.
Sometime in the 1970s, the building was gazetted for conservation. Many other bungalows in the area were also gazetted as 'Good Class Bungalow'. These are houses with land size of more than 1,400 m2. House of Jade sat on about 4,000 m2 of prime land. A GCB property cannot be subdivided. A property under 'conservation' can't be redeveloped.
The Preservation of Sites and Monuments Board was created in 1973 before it was merged into The Heritage Board in 2009. The Heritage Board itself was created in 1993 with Lim Chee Onn as it's first Chairman. Initially, the PSMB comprised of community and business leaders. Eventually PSMB and HB, like all institutions in Singapore, end up being populated by members of the ruling political party PAP and their family members.
Here I realise I am treading on extremely dangerous ground. I am not making any suggestions, nor forming any opinion, which is not possible without the answers to the questions I would ask. All I am doing here, as a concerned citizen, is asking some valid questions that a good investigator, or an investigative journalist, would ask in order to form an opinion.
- When was 3 Nassim Road gazetted?
- When was it degazetted?
- Why was it degazetted?
- Who were the board members in the Heritage Board and Preservation of Sites & Monuments Board at the time of it's degazette? Pamela Lee (sister-in-law of LKY) and Kwa Chong Guan (nephew of Mrs LKY) were at some point in time members of the HB. There have been many PAP-related personalities in the boards. Who were these at the time of the degazette?
- Who broached the initiative to degazette?
- When was Dennis Lee appointed to the board of HPL?
- Why did'nt the Aw family conduct a public tender of the property?
- Ong Beng Seng first broached the idea of Formula One racing in Singapore in 1991. What were the timeline milestones from 1991 to the first race in 2008?
The photo of the old house above depicts the philantrophic hearts of the Haw Par brothers and their love for the ordinary people.
The posh condo and the fiasco tells an ugly story of greed and self-interest of the powerful and the elites.
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