Yang Berhormat Tuan Lim Kit Siang 林吉祥 |
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Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Ipoh Timur |
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office 21 March 2004 |
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Preceded by | Thong Fah Chong |
Majority | 9,774 |
2nd National Chairman of the Democratic Action Party | |
In office 1999–2004 |
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Preceded by | Chen Man Hin |
Succeeded by | Karpal Singh |
Leader of the Opposition of Malaysia | |
In office 1973 – 24 August 1974 |
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Monarch | Abdul Halim |
Prime Minister | Abdul Razak |
Preceded by | Mohamed Asri Muda |
Succeeded by | James Wong |
Constituency | Kota Melaka |
In office 1975 – 29 November 1999 |
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Monarch | Abdul Halim Yahya Petra Ahmad Shah Iskandar Azlan Shah Jaafar Salahuddin |
Prime Minister | Abdul Razak Hussein Onn Mahathir bin Mohamad |
Preceded by | Edmund Langgu Saga |
Succeeded by | Fadzil Noor |
Constituency | Tanjong |
In office 21 March 2004 – 8 March 2008 |
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Monarch | Sirajuddin Mizan Zainal Abidin |
Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
Preceded by | Abdul Hadi Awang |
Succeeded by | Wan Azizah Wan Ismail |
Constituency | Ipoh Timur |
Personal details | |
Born | 20 February 1941 Batu Pahat, Johor, British Malaya |
Political party | PR-DAP |
Children | Lim Guan Eng |
Website | Lim Kit Siang's blog |
Lim Kit Siang (born February 20, 1941; Chinese: 林吉祥; pinyin: Lín Jíxiáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Kiat-siông) is a prominent leader of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a democratic socialist opposition party in Malaysia. He is the father of current Chief Minister in the State of Penang, Lim Guan Eng.
Lim was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1977. He is married with four children. Since 1978, he has published 34 books.[1]
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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 period during a turbulent period in the country's history. He considers himself a Democratic socialist and is also a supporter of social democracy.
Lim was first elected as an MP for the Kota Melaka seat in 1969. His election was initially held to be void, however, because the law prohibited an election agent who had previously failed to discharge his duties from standing for election in the future.
The then 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.[2]
Apart from 1999 - 2004 where 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 four states:
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).
He led the party in the capacity of 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 is currently the Secretary-General of the party and the Chief Minister of Penang.
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. In recent years the opposition have been campaigning for freer and fairer elections within Malaysia. On 10 November 2007, a mass rally, called the BERSIH Peaceful People’s Gathering, took place in the Dataran Merdeka Kuala Lumpur at 3pm to demand for clean and fair elections. The gathering was organised by BERSIH, a coalition comprising political parties and civil society groups, and drew supporters from all over the country.
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.
In 1969 Kit Siang was detained 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 an inappropriate arms deal between the government and a Swiss company.
Lim was one of the people arrested during "Operation Lalang" in 1987 for inciting racism. He spent 17 months in prison under the Internal Security Act (Malaysia),[1] which allows for two years of detention without trial at the pleasure of the Home Minister. The two-year sentence may, in practice, be extended indefinitely without any avenues for due process or appeal.
Lim is a controversial figure for his strongly held views about Malaysian politics; some, such as Malay Malaysian writer Bakri Musa, have labeled him and fellow DAP leader Karpal Singh as racial provocateurs.[3]
In 2008, after winning 12th general election, Lim Kit Siang issued an instruction for all DAP representatives to stay away from the swearing-in ceremony for Perak Menteri Besar, claiming that there is no DAP CEC mandate for PAS Menteri Besar in Perak.[4] This caused the Perak MB swearing-in ceremony to be cancelled and [5] only take place after Lim Kit Siang apologised and retracted his instruction.[6]
Lim Kit Siang together with his son Lim Guan Eng first visited his ancestral home in China in Nov 2008 (reported in Chinapress). His ancestral village is in Zhangzhou, Fujian province which makes him a Minnan native. He met his 80+ years old brother-in-law during this visit.[7]
Year | Opposition | Votes | Pct | Barisan Nasional | Votes | Pct | |||
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2004 | Lim Kit Siang (DAP) | 28,851 | 59% | Thong Fah Chong (MCA) | 19,077 | 39% | |||
2008 | Lim Kit Siang (DAP) | 37,364 | 69% | Liew Mun Hon (MCA) | 15,422 | 29% |
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Mohamed Asri Muda |
Leader of the Opposition of Malaysia 1973–1974 |
Succeeded by James Wong |
Preceded by Edmund Langgu Saga |
Leader of the Opposition of Malaysia 1975–1999 |
Succeeded by Fadzil Noor |
Preceded by Abdul Hadi Awang |
Leader of the Opposition of Malaysia 2004–2008 |
Succeeded by Wan Azizah Wan Ismail |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Chen Man Hin |
National Chairman of the Democratic Action Party 1999–2004 |
Succeeded by Karpal Singh |
Preceded by Goh Hock Guan Fan Yew Teng (acting) |
Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party 1969–1999 |
Succeeded by Kerk Kim Hock |
Preceded by Post created |
Organising Secretary of the Democratic Action Party 1966–1969 |
Succeeded by Fan Yew Teng |
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