Lim Guan Eng

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Lim Guan Eng (Chinese : 林冠英; pinyin: Lín Guānyīng) is the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party (DAP). He is the son of Lim Kit Siang, the Opposition Leader in the Malaysian Parliament, and is married to Betty Chew, another prominent member of the DAP. ^[1]

Lim was arrested by Malaysian police in 1994, following his criticism of the government's handling of allegations of statutory rape of one of his constituents by former Chief Minister of the state of Melaka, Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik. Consequently, while the Attorney General decided not to charge Rahim Thamby Chik, Lim was charged under Section 4(1) (b) of the Sedition Act for causing 'disaffection with the administration of justice in Malaysia'. Lim was also charged under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act for 'maliciously printing' a pamphlet containing allegedly 'false information' because he had described the alleged rape victim as an 'imprisoned victim' due to the fact that she was initially detained by Malaysian police without parental consent for 10 days.

After a series of appeals, Lim was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. He was, however, released after 12 months on August 25th 1999. Due to his incarceration he was disallowed from standing for election to public office for a period of 5 years, and he was therefore ineligible to contest in the 2004 general election. He will be eligible to contest in the next general election, which will be held in 2007 or 2008.

In 2005, Lim suffered a surprise defeat in his campaign for re-election to the Melaka DAP committee when he and his wife came in last and second-last (respectively). However, as Lim remained Secretary-General of the party, he was automatically included among the committee under the party constitution. Although his wife remained the chief of the state DAP women's wing, she was not included in the committee. ^[1] Teresa Kok, a DAP Member of Parliament, suggested there was a conspiracy behind Lim's and Chew's ouster from the committee. ^[2]

In August 2006, Lim announced that his wife is pregnant with their fourth child. The baby is due later this year(2006).