| Sylvia Lim Swee Lian 林瑞莲 |
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|---|---|
| At a Workers' Party of Singapore rally at Bedok Stadium on 30 April 2011 for the Singaporean general election, 2011 | |
| Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Lim Hwee Hua |
| Majority | 12,333 (9.42%) |
| Member of Parliament for Non-Constituency |
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| In office 6 May 2006 – 7 May 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Steve Chia |
| Succeeded by | Lina Chiam Yee Jenn Jong Gerald Giam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 March 1965 Singapore |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Political party | Workers' Party |
| Alma mater | National University of Singapore |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Lawyer, Teacher at Republic Polytechnic of Singapore |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Sylvia Lim Swee Lian (simplified Chinese: 林瑞莲; traditional Chinese: 林瑞蓮; pinyin: Lín Ruì Lián; born 28 March 1965) is a politician, lawyer and academic from Singapore. She is currently the Chairman of the opposition Workers' Party and an elected Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Aljunied GRC. She is in charge of Serangoon division. [1]
Having previously practiced law and served in the Singapore Police Force, Lim recently resigned her post as a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic to focus on her commitments as an elected Member of Parliament.
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Lim had her early education at CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel, CHIJ St Joseph's Convent and National Junior College. She then read Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree in 1988. She obtained a Master of Laws degree from the University of London (University College London) in 1989[2], and was called to the Bar in Singapore in 1991.
During her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Lim did volunteer work with the Spastic Children's Association, Salvation Army Home for the Aged and University College Hospital. She later did voluntary editorial work for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme of the Law Society.
In 1991, Lim joined the Singapore Police Force for three years as a Police Inspector. She initially did investigation work at the Central Police Division Headquarters, and then became a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.
Lim joined the law firm M/s Lim & Lim in 1994. She handled both civil and criminal cases in the High Court, Subordinate Courts and Juvenile Court between 1994 and 1998.
Lim joined Temasek Polytechnic in 1998 as a lecturer on the Diploma in Law and Management course. She also became the Manager of Professional Development and Manager of Continuing Education and Training at the polytechnic's School of Business. Her main areas of teaching and research are in civil and criminal procedure, criminal justice and private security. During her time at Temasek Polytechnic, Lim has contributed to the volume on Criminal Procedure for Halsbury's Laws of Singapore (2003), a legal practitioners' reference series, and has also collected and published primary research on private security in Singapore.
In March 2006, Temasek Polytechnic modified its staffing policies to enable Lim to run as a candidate in the general election without having to resign her teaching position at the institution.
Lim joined the Workers' Party in 2001 and quickly rose to become the Chairman of the party in 2003.
At the 2006 general election, Lim was a member of the Workers' Party team which contested the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency. The Workers' Party team lost to the team from the governing People's Action Party (PAP) by 58,593 votes (43.9%) to 74,843 (56.1%).[3] This was the highest percentage of the vote garnered by any losing opposition candidates in the election, and therefore meant that the Workers' Party was entitled to select one of its team members from Ajunied GRC to become a Non-constituency Member of Parliament. The party chose Lim to become its NCMP.[4]
During her term in Parliament, Lim spoke out against ministers' salaries, and also against means testing in hospitals, which resulted in the PAP deferring a decision on this for a period of two years from 2006 to 2008. In addition, she also called for a reduction in the Goods and Services Tax, arguing that it was a regressive tax, and urged the government to do more to help retrenched workers.
In the 2011 general election, Lim again contested in Aljunied GRC, along with Muhamad Faisal Manap, Pritam Singh, Chen Show Mao and party leader Low Thia Khiang, who vacated his seat of Hougang to lead the charge in Aljunied. Lim was returned as an elected Member of Parliament for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency after her team won 54.71%[2] of the votes (54.72% including overseas votes), the first time that an opposition party won a Group Representation Constituency since the system's introduction on 1 June 1988. In addition, the defeat of the incumbent PAP team marked the first time in Singapore's electoral history that a serving cabinet minister lost his seat. She has been assigned to look after the Serangoon ward previously held by the PAP's Lim Hwee Hua and has also been appointed Chairman of the combined Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.
Lim's victory also made her the first female opposition MP in Singapore's post-independence history.
One week after the election, she announced that she would be resigning from her lecturing job at Temasek Polytechnic after 12 years of service. She said that her political activities had already led to her having to take significant time off from her teaching duties in the past, and that she did not think it would be fair to the Polytechnic if she stayed on seeing as her Parliamentary duties would take up even more of her time.
Since then she has returned to the legal profession and is now a senior associate with Peter Low LLC.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parliament of Singapore | ||
| Preceded by Steve Chia |
Non-Constituency Member of Parliament 2006 – 2011 |
Succeeded by Lina Chiam Yee Jenn Jong Gerald Giam |
| Preceded by Lim Hwee Hua |
Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC 2011 – present |
Incumbent |