Mr Lim Jit Meng (2E4 Fang Yi's Father)

My Father's Story

            My father's name is Lim Jit Meng. He lives at West Coast Crescent. My father was born on the 30^th of January 1959. He was born in Singapore and has two brothers and a sister. His brothers are Jack Lim Jit Khiang and Lim Jit Heng, his sister is Dora Lim Yuen Sueh and he is also the youngest in the family. His brothers were born on the 23^th of October 1954 and 7^th October 1955 respectively, his sister was born on the 31^st of October 1953. My father's parents’ names are Yeo Whee Keng and Lim Teng Poh. They currently live with us. My grandfather used to work as a Ford Motor foreman and my grandmother was a housewife. My father's life with his parents was peaceful and uneventful.

            My father used to play football using a volleyball. During the holidays, he went hiking with his National Cadet Corps friends. Once, my grandmother bought a chick for my father. After rearing the chicken for about four months, one day my father came home from school to find that my grandmother had slaughtered the chicken and cooked it. When my grandmother offered a piece to him, he refused to eat it and cried. In school, my father had always come in first for examinations, but once he got second in class, my grandmother scolded him and hit him with a cane.

            My father attended an English school called Bukit Panjang Primary School at Woodlands Road at the Chua Chu Kang road junction. He continued on to Raffles Institution which was located at Bras Basah Road when he was in secondary one. When the school shifted to Grange Road, he was taught mathematics by Mr Hector Chee who had written the mathematics textbook used in class. Mr Chee had also introduced the model method to Singapore education. My father was in National Cadet Corps (Air). He studied Metalwork in Raffles. At Raffles institution, he took his GCE 'O' and 'A' levels. After that, he went to Singapore Polytechnic then to Nanyang Technological Institute and then to National University of Singapore after which he went to Singapore Institute of Management. At Singapore Polytechnic, he got a Diploma in Electrical Engineering. At Nanyang Technological Institute, he got a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and at National University of Singapore, he got a Masters of Science. Then at Singapore Institute of Management, he got a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration. When my brother was born, my father was taking his Masters of Science and when my sister was born my father was getting his Graduate Diploma at the Singapore Institute of Management. Finally when I was born, he stopped his education. My father was in the Electrical Engineering Society, he was the treasurer in the society.

            My father is a free thinker but is inclined towards Buddhism as my grandmother was Buddhist and she does the cooking most of the time.

            My father had to bring my mother to meet his family and relatives to get their approval to date my mother. My father had to get to know my mother better so he asked her out on dinner dates and to play tennis and other sports before he could propose to her. My parents' wedding was a Western-style wedding. They had to go for a tea ceremony with their parents and family. They invited over three hundred guests to the wedding.

            My father used to live in an attap house then he later upgraded to Public Housing and now to a Condominium. My father's family used to have family gatherings for which my grandmother had to go all the way to the Johor market as it was cheaper. As there were no passports at that time it made things more convenient to go there to buy beef. They would either have my grandmother's cooking or have a steamboat dinner at the gatherings.

            My father's hobbies include reading, going to the gym, running and swimming. My father enlisted in National Service in the year 1978. He was in primary school when National Service was first implemented. Once, there was a flood at Bukit Timah, my father's house got flooded and it was very muddy.

            Under Lim Yew Hock's government, my father thought that he was not a good Chief Minister as he sold Christmas Island to the Australians for one million dollars. (Editor's Note: this is a popular misconception. Christmas Island was actually under the administration of the Straits Settlements of which Singapore was the headquarters. Christmas Island, which was a British protectorate was transferred to the jurisdiction of Australia under Lim Yew Hock’s tenure. It was not sold as popularly believed.) My father thought that Lee Kuan Yew's government was more forgiving, more accepting, more tolerant of failure and Mr Lee was a very open person. Lee Hsien Loong was my father's army commander and my father thought that he has a responsible and committed government. My father thought that Goh Chok Tong was a nice person as he was not boastful, very sociable and he treats people with respect. He also does not force people to do things that they don't want to do. He has the interest of people at heart. He also listens and consults people for their opinions before making his decision which is always in the best interest of Singapore.

Lim Fang Yi, 2E4