Lim Kim San (30 November 1916 – 20 July 2006) was a Singaporean businessman, civil servant, and politician who served as a Cabinet minister with a variety of portfolios between 1965 and 1981. Prior to his tenure as a member of parliament, Lim was appointed chairman of Singapore's newly created Housing & Development Board (HDB), and he would go on to be recognized for the HDB's success in its resolution of Singapore's housing shortage.
Following his elected political career, Lim would go on to hold other positions in Singapore's public sector.
Early life and education
Born in 1916 in Singapore, Lim was the eldest of six children. He was educated at Oldham Hall School and the Anglo-Chinese School before graduating from Raffles College in 1939 with a diploma in economics.
During World War II, Lim was tortured by the Kempeitai, and was labeled as a communist and British sympathiser by occupying Japanese forces. Following the war, Lim stated that those who survived the horror and the brutality of the Japanese occupation "will never forget them." He added that the traumatic and humiliating experience politicised his generation of Singaporeans and made them vow to "never let our fate be decided by others." Overseeing reservoir development and expansion, Lim served as Chairman of the Public Utilities Board following appointment in 1970. He was then appointed as Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority between 1979 and 1994, and from 1981 to 1982, served as the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Lim was also Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers between 1992 and 2003.
Housing & Development Board
In 1960, Lim was appointed Chairman of the Housing & Development Board. Due to a rapidly increasing population, more than 400,000 people were either living in over-crowded conditions in ramshackle “shophouse” buildings or in squatter settlements with substandard living conditions.
Lim had volunteered for the position and was not paid for his three years of service. During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of high-rise, low-cost apartments that would eventually become the main source of housing for Singaporeans. Defying detraction from former employees of the Singapore Improvement Trust, Lim would forgo a detailed planning stage and instead chose a "rough and ready" approach using rough estimates of the housing requirement. A committee was eventually set up under Lim Tay Boh to find out whether the HDB had the capability and the materials to reach the construction goal. He was subsequently appointed Minister for National Development.
Lim was also appointed as the PAP's "talent scout".
Following Singapore's independence in 1965, Lim served as Minister of Finance between until 1967 Pang died in 1994.
Honours
In June 1962, Lim was awarded the Order of Temasek (First Class), Singapore's highest civilian honour for his service in the Housing Development Board.
In July 1963, he was conferred the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (Honorary) in conjunction with the 45th birthday of the Sultan of Kelantan, Malaysia.
In August 1965, he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his community leadership.