Civil career In 1968, Lim joined the
Marine Department. Being unhappy with his job, he subsequently requested a transfer. In 1971, Lim was transferred to the administrative service as a marine adviser to the
Ministry of Communications. In 1975, Lim was promoted to deputy secretary. However, it was reported on 5 March 1977 that the negotiation had ended two days ago without an agreement being reached.
Political career 4th Parliament (1977–1980) In June 1977, Lim was rumoured to be the
People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for the
1977 by-elections. When contacted by
New Nation, Lim replied that it was "too early to make any statement". On 5 July 1977, Lim's candidacy was confirmed by the party. His opponent was
Lee Siew Choh. On 17 July 1977, Lim was given an endorsement by Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew, who said Lim was a "promising officer in the administrative service" and was reluctantly removed to stand for elections. On 23 July 1977, Lim received 72.2% of the 16,482 votes in the
Bukit Merah Constituency, and was elected as a member of the
4th Parliament. In August 1977, Lim was appointed as a deputy director in the
National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), reporting directly to
Devan Nair. In December 1977, Lim said that Singapore will experience increased crime and economic stagnation if drug abuse is not reduced. From 1978 to 1980, Lim was the political secretary for the Ministry of Science and Technology. In January 1979, he was also appointed vice-chairman of the PAP's election committee, in anticipation of the
1979 Singaporean by-elections. In February 1979, Lim was elected to PAP's
Central Executive Committee (CEC) as an assistant treasurer. In March 1979, he was appointed as deputy secretary-general of NTUC. On 11 March 1979, Lim was part of the delegation led by Lee Kuan Yew to visit developments on
Batam. During a debate on extending secondary education to five years, Lim urged parents to recognise that their children may not have similar interests or capabilities compared to others, and suggested to establish an inter-ministry committee to look at how each ministry can contribute to a child's development. On 15 September 1980, Lim was appointed as a
minister without portfolio in the
fifth Lee Kuan Yew cabinet. According to the
Prime Minister's Office, Lim was appointed to preserve relations between PAP and NTUC, and to allow union workers to be considered in cabinet decisions. In October 1980, Lim was one of the eight members in a newly created NTUC-PAP liaison committee. Lim was also appointed as deputy chairman of the party's election committee. In December 1980, Lim was re-elected into PAP's CEC. He also called himself the "matchmaker of Singapore", while announcing the establishment of 20 working committees between companies and unions. During the
1980 general election, Lim stood as a candidate for Bukit Merah, and he won unopposed.
5th Parliament (1981–1984) In the
5th Parliament, Lim remained as a minister without portfolio. On 3 January 1981, Lim officiated the opening of a basketball court at
Bukit Merah Community Centre, and he said that young Singaporeans should not take benefits from the government for granted. In June 1981, Lim was a subscriber to SLF Properties, a newly-formed
private limited company by the
Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF). In July 1981, Lim was a founding member of the National Transport Workers' Union, and he was elected to the executive council. Other members included
Minister for Trade and Industry Tony Tan and NTUC's president
Devan Nair. After the
1981 Anson by-election,
J. B. Jeyaretnam challenged
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to a public, televised debate. On behalf of Lee, Lim rejected Jeyaretnam's request, and asked for elaboration on the suggestions made by the Jeyaratnam and his political party, the
Workers' Party. On 19 January 1982, Lim was appointed as a life
trustee of
Welcome, a supermarket by NTUC. Speaking at a conference in June 1982, Lim felt that the "colonial concept" of
daily-rated workers limited employer-employee relationships, and proposed changing these workers to a monthly salary instead. On 24 June 1982, Lim called for a boycott against Australian goods for one month, after the
Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) detained Pacific Viking, a Singapore-registered cargo ship, for poor safety standards. He said that "it will be a concerted effort by our 61 unions to show the SUA and its friends that we condemn their protectionist action". 17 days later, Lim announced that the boycott will be lifted on 12 July 1982, and said that NTUC will not "hesitate to act again" if SUA were to repeat such actions. On 15 November 1982, Lim was re-elected into PAP's CEC. On 10 December 1982, he was invited by
National University of Singapore Student Union president
Vivian Balakrishnan to give a talk about trade unions to students. Lim remained as a minister without portfolio, while pending assignment to a new ministry. Lim also resigned as chairman of
NTUC Comfort, deputy chairman of SLF, and other trade union positions. On 22 July 1983, in a letter Lee, Lim rejected the new posting and resigned as cabinet minister. On 1 August 1983, Lim was assigned as a
backbencher in parliament. He also resigned as vice-chairman and second organising secretary of PAP. During the
1984 general election, Lim remained as a candidate in Bukit Merah, and he won unopposed.
6th Parliament (1985–1988) On 15 February 1985, Lim was appointed as a board member of the
Urban Redevelopment Authority. In June 1985, he was also appointed as chairman of the public accounts committee of the
6th Parliament, which scrutinises the government expenditure. In a 1988 National Day speech, Prime Minister Lee singled Lim as the type of person Singapore needs in times of crises. Lee said: During the
1988 general election, Lim remained as a candidate in Bukit Merah, and his opponent was Pok Lee Chuen of the Workers' Party. Lim received 9,414 votes and won the election.
7th Parliament (1989–1991) On 9 January 1989, Lim was sworn into the
7th Parliament, and he was reappointed as chairman of the public accounts committee. On 11 May 1990, Lim was appointed as chairman of Steamers Maritime Holdings. For the
1991 general election, he stood as one of the candidates in the
Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency. Lim and his team won the election with 77.2% of the votes. On 6 January 1992, Lim was sworn into the
8th Parliament. He resigned on 1 December 1992, citing
hypertension and corporate work as the reasons for resignation, and he did not stand as a candidate for the
1992 Marine Parade by-election.
Business In February 1978, Lim was appointed as a director of
Singapore Bus Services. In June 1978, Lim was appointed as chairman of NTUC Comfort. In May 1979, Lim succeeded
Devan Nair as secretary-general of NTUC, making him the first youngest leader of NTUC. In September 1979, as part of the
Speak Mandarin Campaign, Lim urged all union officials to converse in
Mandarin Chinese, instead of
Chinese dialects. In April 1983, NTUC board members told Prime Minister Lee that they had a lack of rapport with Lim due to his "natural reticence", and they preferred
Ong Teng Cheong as secretary-general. As such, Lee removed Lim from his position, and he was replaced by Ong on 9 May 1983. On 1 September 1983, Lim joined
Keppel as a managing director of shipping. In October 1983, he was appointed as a board member of Straits Steamship, a subsidiary of Keppel. In April 1984, Lim was promoted to become managing director of Straits Steamship. On 4 May 1993, Lim stepped down as chairman of Steamers Maritime, and he was succeeded by Cyril Neville Watson. In June 1993, Lim was appointed as the inaugural chairman of the
National Heritage Board (NHB). In August 1993, Lim was also appointed as chairman of the China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Company, a joint venture entity between
China and Singapore for the
Suzhou Industrial Park. In October 1995, he was given a
Jiangsu honorary citizenship. On 1 June 1996, Lim was appointed as a non-executive board director of
Singapore Airlines. On 1 January 1997, Lim succeeded
Sim Kee Boon as chairman of Straits Steamship Land, which was later renamed to Keppel Land. On 15 October 1998, Lim was appointed as a board member of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). On 1 January 2000, Lim became executive chairman of Keppel and
Keppel TatLee Bank, succeeding Sim. In an interview to
Bloomberg News, Sim said that Lim is "tenacious" and has "very good networking abilities both in the Government and in the region". On 2 January 2008, Lim was appointed by President
S. R. Nathan as an alternate member in the
Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA). On 30 June 2009, he stepped down as chairman of Keppel, and he was replaced by
Lee Boon Yang. Lim remained as a senior advisor. In April 2017, Lim was appointed by President
Tony Tan as a member in CPA. On 31 May 2018, Lim stepped down as a board member of MAS. On 1 August 2019, Lim was appointed as
chancellor of
Singapore Management University, succeeding
J. Y. Pillay. == Personal life ==