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PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG'S CONDOLENCE LETTER ON DEMISE OF FORMER CABINET MINISTER MR LIM KIM SAN
20 July 2006
Mr Lim Kiat Seng
81 Dalvey Road
Singapore 259488
Dear
My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr Lim Kim San. Please accept our deepest condolences and sympathies.
Mr Lim was one of the founding fathers who created modern Singapore. A practical and resourceful man with the ability to get things done, Mr Lim had an instinctive feel for people and a keen sense of business. He brought these strengths to the team, and transformed our nation by providing Singaporeans with affordable, high quality public housing.
When the PAP first took office in 1959, most Singaporeans lived in overcrowded slums and squatter colonies. The new government formed the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to tackle the housing problem. This PAP needed to deliver results fast, to gain the trust and confidence of Singaporeans. The stakes were high and the difficulties daunting, but Mr Lim was undeterred. He became Chairman of the HDB and worked closely with his inexperienced but dynamic and capable team of architects and engineers. Under his leadership, HDB swiftly built tens of thousands of flats, easing the acute housing shortage. This was crucial to the PAP¨s re-election in 1963.
Mr Lim himself stood for election in 1963 and won. He became Minister for National Development, overseeing the housing programme.
He served as a Minister for 18 years, in a succession of key ministries including Finance, Defence, Education and Environment. He was also Chairman of the Public Utilities Board and Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He brought his business acumen and private sector experience to bear on the problems of government, and offered valuable perspectives to better inform the Cabinet¨s decisions.
After retiring from politics in 1981, Mr Lim continued to contribute actively in diverse roles. He was Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers, and Executive Chairman of the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). He also chaired the committee that interviewed potential candidates for the PAP, which became known as the Lim Kim San Committee. Throughout his varied career that spanned banking, publishing and politics, Mr Lim was a decisive, hands-on manager and a shrewd judge of character and motivation.
Mr Lim has lived an extraordinary and fulfilling life, giving of himself to his friends, family and country. Singaporeans will remember and honour him for his lifelong commitment and outstanding contributions to our nation. His passing is a deep loss to all of us.
Yours
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PRESIDENT S R
NATHAN'S CONDOLENCE MESSAGE ON THE DEMISE OF MR LIM KIM SAN
Singapore has lost one of its illustrious
sons. Among the founding generation of leaders of Independent
Singapore, Mr Lim Kim San was the least known. He refrained from
publicity despite the monumental difference he had made to the lives
of ordinary men and women of Singapore. The Public Housing that he
successfully launched in the 1960s gave hope to all who were then
living in urban hovels.
He is credited for his amazing achievement
of breaking the back of our deplorable Housing shortage that the
emerging Internal Self Governing leadership of Singapore then
faced. No monument can be more appropriate for Mr Lim Kim San than
the HDB apartments that have sprung up all over Singapore, where
more than 80% of our people live. At a time when few would have
taken up the challenge of speedily building low-cost public housing,
under the difficult conditions that prevailed, he is known to have
taken on the task, supremely confident that he could achieve what
was near impossible for previous Governments.
Over his years in public service until he
stepped down from political office, he spearheaded land reclamation,
building reservoirs and led numerous Ministries and Statutory Boards
like PUB and PSA. As Defence, Finance and National Development
Minister he not only got things done but wielded much influence in
addressing several developmental concerns of the Government. Mr Lim
was shy and unassumingly quiet in public life.
In later years from 2 January 1992 to 1
January 2004, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Council of
Advisers. His long experience of interacting with people proved
immensely useful to previous Presidents and myself as he judged
candidates for various public appointments, giving due weight to
their strengths and weaknesses. His earlier experience in business
also gave him a sharp eye scrutinizing Budgets that came up to the
Council to advise the President.
He has been labeled a ＾Generalist of
distinction￣, as indeed he was in and out of office, and the way he
achieved varied targets that he set for himself and his Ministries
and Agencies. Not through anything he professed, but in the way he
lived and his achievements, he was indeed an uncommon Singaporean.
His intuitions were often right, and his
creativity in addressing our housing problem in those early years
was indeed remarkable.
S R NATHAN
PRESIDENT
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Source:
www.gov.sg News Release 20 Jul 2006
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Former Cabinet stalwart Lim Kim San
dies
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