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.

Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, says he is now a “political refugee” after the British government granted him asylum from what he described as persecution at home.

Singapore's heritage board will assess if founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's home should be preserved as a national monument, the culture ministry said on Thursday. The late statesman's youngest child Lee Hsien Yang applied on Oct.