Lim Kit Siang

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang PSM
林吉祥
Lim in 2013
Leader of the Opposition
In office 21 March 2004 – 8 March 2008
Monarchs	Sirajuddin Mizan Zainal Abidin
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Preceded by	Abdul Hadi Awang
Succeeded by	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
In office 5 November 1975 – 29 November 1999
Monarchs	See list Abdul Halim Yahya Petra Ahmad Shah Iskandar Azlan Shah Jaafar Salahuddin
Prime Minister	Abdul Razak Hussein Hussein Onn Mahathir Mohamad
Preceded by	Edmund Langgu Anak Saga
Succeeded by	Fadzil Noor
In office 17 April 1973 – 24 August 1974
Monarch	Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Abdul Razak Hussein
Preceded by	Mohamed Asri Muda
Succeeded by	James Wong
2nd National Chairman of the Democratic Action Party
In office 3 December 1999 – 4 September 2004
Secretary-General	Kerk Kim Hock
Preceded by	Chen Man Hin
Succeeded by	Karpal Singh
3rd Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party
In office 1 October 1970 – 3 December 1999
National Chairman	Chen Man Hin
Preceded by	Fan Yew Teng (acting)
Succeeded by	Kerk Kim Hock
Federal parliamentary seats Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Iskandar Puteri In office 9 May 2018 – 19 November 2022 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Liew Chin Tong Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Gelang Patah In office 6 May 2013 – 9 May 2018 Preceded by Tan Ah Eng Succeeded by Constituency abolished Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Ipoh Timor In office 21 March 2004 – 5 May 2013 Preceded by Thong Fah Chong Succeeded by Thomas Su Keong Siong Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Tanjong In office 3 August 1986 – 29 November 1999 Preceded by Koh Tsu Koon Succeeded by Chow Kon Yeow Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Petaling In office 8 July 1978 – 26 April 1982 Preceded by Oh Keng Seng Succeeded by Yeoh Poh San Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Kota Melaka In office 26 April 1982 – 3 August 1986 Preceded by Chan Teck Chan Succeeded by Lim Guan Eng In office 24 August 1974 – 8 July 1978 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Chan Teck Chan Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Bandar Malacca In office 10 May 1969 – 24 August 1974* Preceded by Tan Kee Gak Succeeded by Constituency abolished
State parliamentary seats Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for Padang Kota In office 20 October 1990 – 24 April 1995 Preceded by Lim Chong Eu Succeeded by Teng Chang Yeow Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for Kampong Kolam In office 3 August 1986 – 20 October 1990 Preceded by Wong Hoong Keat Succeeded by Cheah Teik Hoe Member of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly for Kubu In office 1974–1982 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Yong Wee Yook
Personal details
Born	20 February 1941 Batu Pahat, Johor, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
Political party	Democratic Action Party (DAP)
Other political affiliations	Gagasan Rakyat (GR) (1990–1996) Barisan Alternatif (BA) (1998–2004) Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2015)
Spouse	Neo Yoke Tee ​ (m. 1960)​
Children	4 (including Guan Eng and Hui Ying)
Website	limkitsiang.com
*Parliament suspended from 13 May 1969 to 20 February 1971

Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang (Chinese: 林吉祥; pinyin: Lín Jíxiáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Kiat-siâng; born 20 February 1941) is a retired Malaysian politician. He was the longest-serving opposition leader in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions, as well as the second longest-serving member of parliament. He was also the former Secretary-General and National Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is a component party of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Early life

Lim was born in Batu Pahat, Johor, British Malaya on 20 February 1941.

Lim together with his son Guan Eng first visited his ancestral home in China in Nov 2008 as reported in Chinapress. His ancestral village is located in Zhangzhou, Fujian province. He met his brother-in-law during the visit.

He qualified at Lincoln's Inn in 1977.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Lim first emerged as a politician when he was National Organising Secretary of the DAP from 1966 to 1969. At the same time, he was also entrusted to edit the party's newspaper, the Rocket. The course of the political landscape changed when he was promoted to Secretary-General in 1969 after being acting Secretary-General for a short stint during a period.

Lim was first elected as an MP for the Bandar Melaka seat in 1969. His election was initially held to be void, however, because of the ineligibility of an election agent who had previously failed to discharge his duties from standing for election in the future. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak, moved a motion in Parliament to prevent Lim from serving as an MP, granting him instead a period of time to request a royal pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King). After receiving the royal pardon, Lim was allowed to retain his seat.

Apart from 1999 to 2004, during which time he lost his seat due to the Chinese disenchantment with DAP entering into a political pact with the Islamist PAS for the general elections, Lim represented various constituencies in five states:

• Bandar Melaka, Melaka (1969–1974)
• Kota Melaka, Melaka (1974–1978)
• Petaling, Selangor (1978–1982)
• Kota Melaka, Melaka (1982–1986)
• Tanjong, Penang (1986–1999)
• Ipoh Timor, Perak (2004–2013)
• Gelang Patah, Johor (2013-2018)
• Iskandar Puteri, Johor (2018-2022)

He also served as a state assemblyman in Melaka and Penang during the following periods: Kubu, Melaka (1974–1982); Kampong Kolam, Penang (1986–1990); and Padang Kota, Penang (1990–1995).

In addition, Lim had also served as the Opposition Leader of Malaysia three times over a span of 50 years. He was first elected Opposition Leader for an 18-month stint from January 1973 to July 1974. Next, he assumed the position in November 1975 for the next 24 years before losing his parliamentary seat in the 1999 general elections. He served in the post once more for a four-year stint following the 2004 general elections until 2008.

He led the party as Secretary-General until 1999 when he was elected party chairman, succeeding Chen Man Hin. In 2004, he refused re-appointment as the chairman and Karpal Singh was elected to replace him. Lim was then elected to an advisory role as the leader of a newly created body called the "Policy and Strategic Planning Commission". His son, Lim Guan Eng, was the Secretary-General of the party and the Finance Minister of Malaysia.

After winning a parliamentary seat from Ipoh Timor during the 2004 general election, which also saw his party clinching the most seats of any opposition party, Lim became the Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

Lim contested and won in Gelang Patah against Barisan Nasional's heavyweight and former Menteri Besar of Johor Abdul Ghani Othman in the 2013 general election.

On 22 October 2015, Lim was suspended for six months from Parliament for insulting Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia. Earlier, he had stated that Pandikar was abusing his powers by ruling that the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) could not continue its ongoing investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB) due to the transfer of four PAC members to the Cabinet. Pandikar had insisted that Lim apologize and withdraw his statement against him. However, Lim did not apologise or retract his remarks.

Retirement

On 20 March 2022, on the 17th DAP National Congress, Lim announced his retirement and that he will not be contesting in the Central Executive Committee and the following general and state elections, citing old age. The Secretary-general of DAP, Anthony Loke had originally intended to appoint him as the mentor of the party. However, Lim declined the offer.

Controversy

In 1969, Lim was detained lawfully under the Internal Security Act for 18 months. Ten years later, in 1979, he was convicted of five charges under Official Secrets Act for exposing a legitimate arms deal between the government and a Swiss company.

In the March 2008 general election, he was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor with a majority of 21,942 votes. Lim issued an instruction for all DAP representatives to boycott from the swearing-in ceremony for Perak Menteri Besar, claiming that there was no DAP mandate for PAS Menteri Besar in Perak. This caused the Perak MB swearing-in ceremony to be cancelled and only took place after Lim apologised and retracted his instruction.

Personal life

He is married with 4 children. He is the father of Lim Guan Eng, the Bagan MP, Air Putih MLA and National Chairman of DAP as well as Lim Hui Ying, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Tanjong MP.

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1969	P086 Bandar Malacca, Malacca		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	18,562	60.80%		Koh Kim Leng (MCA)	7,346	24.06%	31,484	11,216	73.77%
							Hasnul Abdul Hadi (PSRM)	4,621	15.14%
1974	P098 Kota Melaka, Malacca		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	17,664	51.93%		Loh Kee Peng (MCA)	13,460	39.57%	34,738	4,204	74.53%
							Thum Kim Kui (PSRM)	2,165	6.36%
							Lee Kou Ming (PEKEMAS)	726	2.13%
1978	P081 Petaling, Selangor		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	41,017	62.83%		Yeoh Poh San (MCA)	24,263	37.17%	90,611	16,754
1982	P098 Kota Melaka, Malacca		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	29,310	54.51%		Chan Teck Chan (MCA)	24,459	45.49%	54,914	4,851	78.56%
1986	P045 Tanjong, Penang		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	27,611	63.43%		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	15,921	36.57%	44,463	11,690	73.32%
1990			Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	30,954	69.66%		Boey Weng Keat (Gerakan)	13,485	30.34%	45,392	17,469	74.55%
1995	P048 Tanjong, Penang		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	25,622	56.75%		Oh Keng Seng (Gerakan)	18,727	41.48%	45,971	6,895	72.57%
							Khor Gark Kim (PBS)	800	1.77%
1999	P047 Bukit Bendera, Penang		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	24,176	49.50%		Chia Kwang Chye (Gerakan)	24,280	49.72%	49,887	104	71.67%
2004	P064 Ipoh Timor, Perak		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	28,851	60.20%		Thong Fah Chong (MCA)	19,077	39.80%	49,175	9,774	67.06%
2008			Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	37,364	70.12%		Liew Mun Hon (MCA)	15,422	28.94%	53,994	21,942	70.45%
2013	P162 Gelang Patah, Johor		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	54,284	57.74%		Abdul Ghani Othman (UMNO)	39,522	42.04%	95,071	14,762	89.08%
2018	P162 Iskandar Puteri, Johor		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	80,726	69.24%		Jason Teoh Sew Hock (MCA)	35,862	30.76%	118,779	44,864	85.90%

Selangor State Legislative Assembly

Year	Constituency			Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1968	Serdang		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	5,928	42.98%		Thuan Paik Phok (MCA)	6,535	47.38%		607
							Tan Han Swee (Gerakan)	1,330	9.64%

Malacca State Legislative Assembly

Year	Constituency			Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1974	Kubu		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	4,746			K. Sivapunniam (MIC)	1,881			2,865	81.85%
							Tan Giap Seng (PEKEMAS)	697
							Thum Kui Kim (PSRM)	433
1978			Lim Kit Siang (DAP)							12,739	4,649
1982	Bandar Hilir		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	3,384			Gan Boon Leong (MCA)	6,447		10,050	3,063	77.9%
							Lee Ching Sen (IND)	44

Penang State Legislative Assembly

Year	Constituency			Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1986	Kampong Kolam		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	8,900	63.07%		Tham Soon Seong (Gerakan)	5,211	36.93%	14,391	3,689	73.49%
1990	Padang Kota		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	6,317	52.96%		Lim Chong Eu (Gerakan)	5,611	47.04%	12,221	706	72.14%
1995	Tanjong Bunga		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	5,384	29.15%		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	13,087	70.85%	18,815	7,703	77.68%
1999	Kebun Bunga		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	5,142	37.11%		Teng Hock Nan (Gerakan)	8,551	61.72%	14,195	3,409	68.67%

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

• Malaysia :
  • Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2023)

Timeline

Books