Desmond Lim

Desmond Lim
Native name 林睦荃
Born Desmond Lim Bak Chuan
1968 (age 49–50)
Nationality Singaporean
Occupation Politician
Engineer

Desmond Lim Bak Chuan (Chinese: 林睦荃; pinyin: Lín Mù Quán; born 1968)[1] is a Singaporean politician. He is the current leader of the political party Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA). During the Singaporean by-election, 2013, which he ultimately lost, Lim held the first online rally in Singapore.

Early life

Desmond Lim grew up in a poor and difficult family of nine and together they lived in a small room of a house. The room was so small that Lim and his brothers had to sleep on the street. The street happened to be one of the dangerous areas of Singapore with many frequent street fights between gangs. Lim recalled in an interview that very often he would hear and witness violent fights between gangs while he and his brothers were trying to sleep.[2]

Because of his family's poverty, Lim and his brothers would often wait for left over bread crumbs in a bread factory. Those bread crumbs would be saved up for breakfast, lunch and dinner.[2]

Lim didn't start speaking until he was 7. His mother brought him to a Chinese opera troupe to beg for a bowl of rice. They were kind and Lim said his first word to thank them.[2]

Career

Lim is a principal engineer at telecommunications organisation M1 Limited[3]

As a politician, he has more than twenty years of experience. Lim describes himself a "dedicated & determined" leader.[4] He was also a former member of the Singapore People's Party.[5] As the current leader of the Singapore Democratic Alliance, he contested and lost both the 2001 and 2006 Singaporean general elections.[4] He also contested the Singaporean general election, 2011, and lost,[6] having only garnered 4.5% of the valid votes.[7]

He held Singapore's first online rally during the Singaporean by-election, 2013, on January 21, 2013, during which he spoke about the cost of living and property prices in Singapore.[8] The online rally drew much criticism, most of which concerned his poor command of English. Lim, in contrast, hailed the online rally as a "great achievement" and also replied:

Everyone is not perfect. The most important thing is that we are learning, and I'm learning and there are leaders at the beginning when they come into politics, their English is also not as good as mine, but nevertheless most importantly is never give up and be sincere and have the heart to serve the people.[9]

During the by-election, it was reported that some residents admired his "underdog indefatigability".[10] However, Lim ultimately lost the by-election, finishing fourth and last with 168 votes (0.57%). He became the second candidate (after United People's Front's Harbans Singh) to have forfeited his deposit twice,[11] and at 0.57% of the valid votes, he topped Teo Kim Hoe's former record[12] (who garnered 0.81% back at 1984)[13] as the lowest percentage garnered in an election since the independence of Singapore in 1965.[14]

Lim led his only SDA team at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC on the 2015 elections, but his team was defeated to PAP by a vote share of 72.89%-27.11%.[15]

Education

Lim holds a Master's degree in engineering management from the University of Wollongong.[3]

Personal life

Desmond Lim is married.

In a short interview with The New Paper, Lim revealed that he didn't attend kindergarten during his early childhood. This resulted in his poor command of English pronunciation, which was made fun of by netizens during the SDA's Online Rally during the 2013 Punggol East By-Election. However he assured residents that he is able to communicate in Mandarin to make up for the lack of proficiency in English. Lim further emphasised that in the Parliament of Singapore, members are allowed to speak in any of the four official languages.[16] Lim also attributed the poor pronunciation of certain English words in the Online Rally to the fact that he was unfamiliar with the script which was only given to him 5 minutes before recording and that the recording was done late at night. He also emphasised YouTube's poor handling of his speech, resulting in skewed subtitles. Following this interview, it is unclear as to whether Lim is able to communicate in Mandarin fluently.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Desmond Lim". Channel News Asia. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 MySINPO (3 May 2011). "Unlimited Belief" – via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 "General Election, 2006". AsiaOne. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Loh, Dylan (January 16, 2013). "SDA's Desmond Lim brands himself as dedicated & determined". Channel News Asia. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ Fong, Tanya (March 3, 2011). "SDA Secretary-General Desmond Lim quits SPP, joins SJP". Channel News Asia. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  6. ↑ "SDA to field Desmond Lim as candidate in Punggol by-election". xin msn. January 16, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  7. ↑ Toh, Yong Chuan (January 19, 2013). "SDA will not hold rally in Punggol East". The Straits Times. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Desmond Lim speaks at the SDA's online rally, Jan 23, 2013 (Part 7)". Today. January 23, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ "SDA's Desmond Lim not disheartened by negative online rally comments". xin msn. January 23, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  10. ↑ Wong, Tessa (January 23, 2013). "SDA's Desmond Lim: Underdog with derring-do instincts". The Straits Times. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ Candidates name list (H-I): Harbans Singh
  12. ↑ Candidates name list (T): Teo Kim Hoe
  13. ↑ Singapore Parliamentary General Election 1984 > Chua Chu Kang
  14. ↑ Toh, Yong Chuan; Lim, Joyce (January 27, 2013). "SDA scores worst result in post-independence history". AsiaOne. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  15. ↑ "General Election 2015: Live and real-time election results".
  16. ↑ thenewpaper (16 August 2015). "SDA's Desmond Lim on 'that' video" – via YouTube.
  17. ↑ 154thmedia2013 (9 January 2013). "SDA Desmond Lim said its party is 'operational ready' for by-election - 09Jan2013" – via YouTube.
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