David Lim Kim San
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David Lim Kim San (born 7 May 1933) is considered to be one of the architects of music education in Singapore. David Lim was born in a
Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...
and
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
family. He attended Telok Kurau Primary School and
Victoria School Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. The school has a hostel. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme. This a ...
, where he was mentored by Benjamin Khoo and Paul Abisheganaden. At the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
(MOE), Khoo and David Lim started the Combined Schools Choir, which was later renamed the Singapore Youth Choir (SYC), in 1964. Lim took control of the SYC in 1968. They also initiated the school band movement and designed the band curriculum for MOE. In 1969, Lim was promoted to head the Music Department in MOE. The number of school bands grew from 4 to 150 within a short period. He pioneered the instrumental teaching programme in primary schools which encouraged the use of instruments in the teaching and learning of music. Lim was responsible for the formation and training of many junior college choirs. Many are led by former members of the SYC. David Lim was the first recipient of the
Cultural Medallion The Cultural Medallion () is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, Literature of Singapore, literature, Music of Singapore, music, photography, art and Cinema of Singapore, film ...
(Music) in 1979 for his contributions to music to Singapore. He retired from MOE in 1996.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, David Kim San Recipients of the Cultural Medallion Singaporean Methodists Peranakan people in Singapore Victoria School, Singapore alumni 1933 births Singaporean educators Singaporean conductors (music) Living people 20th-century Singaporean educators 20th-century Singaporean musicians 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music)