Desmond Lim
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Desmond Lim Bak Chuan ( zh, s=林睦荃, p=Lín Mùquán; born 1967) is a Singaporean politician. He is the secretary-general of the
Singapore Justice Party The Singapore Justice Party (abbreviation: SJP) is a political party in Singapore. History The SJP was formed in August 1972 to represent the Indian community in Singapore. In 1975, SJP joined the United People Front (UPF), a political allian ...
(SJP), a political party in Singapore. He is also the chairman of the
Singapore Democratic Alliance The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) is a political coalition between the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS), and Singapore Justice Party (SJP). The SDA was formed in 2001 and initially consisted of four political parties, PKMS, S ...
(SDA), a political alliance of several political parties in Singapore including SJP. He was the secretary-general of SDA from 2009 to 2011. Lim participated in the general elections from 2001 to 2025, contesting the GRCs of
Jalan Besar Jalan Besar ( , zh, c=惹兰勿刹; literally "Large Road" in Malay, but taken to mean "Main Road") is a one-way road in Singapore, connecting Lavender Street in Kallang and Rochor Canal Road in Rochor. Jalan Besar MRT station is located under ...
(2001), Pasir Ris-Punggol (2006 to 2020) and Pasir Ris-Changi (2025), as well as the by-election of Punggol East SMC (2013), under the SDA. Lim was initially considered a
protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
of
Chiam See Tong Chiam See Tong (; born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) from 1980 to 1993 and as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore People' ...
until they had a falling out in 2011, which led to Chiam and the SPP withdrawing from the SDA. Lim is known for his willingness to attempt new methods of campaigning and has described himself as "dedicated and determined".


Education

Lim holds a
Master of Engineering Management Master of Engineering Management (MEM), Master of Management Engineering (MME), or Master of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM) is a professional master's degree that bridges the gap between the field of engineering or technology and the fiel ...
from the
University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...
.


Career

Lim started his career as an air-conditioner mechanic and technician, and currently works as a principal engineer at the telecommunication company M1.


Community service

Since 2011, Lim has been running a charity organisation called Dedicated Locals' Caring Community to help those who have fallen on hard times. To date, it has benefitted over 7,000 beneficiaries in Singapore, South East Asia, China and Nepal through the provision of free amenity services, giving out free basic necessities, and missionary trips. In recognition of his community contributions, he was conferred with the title of "Dato' Sri Utama" in 2019.


Political career

Lim was the chairman of the
Singapore Justice Party The Singapore Justice Party (abbreviation: SJP) is a political party in Singapore. History The SJP was formed in August 1972 to represent the Indian community in Singapore. In 1975, SJP joined the United People Front (UPF), a political allian ...
(SJP), which he left for the
Singapore People's Party The Singapore People's Party (abbreviation: SPP) is a political party in Singapore. SPP was founded in 1994 by Sin Kek Tong who left the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) with various SDP members after internal conflicts in SDP. The leadership ...
(SPP) in 1996. He became the assistant secretary-general of the SPP from December 1997 to 2006. Lim made his electoral debut during the 2001 general election when he joined a five-member SDA team to contest in
Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest a ...
against a five-member team from the governing
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP). The SDA team lost with 25.51% of the vote against the PAP team's 74.49%. Lim joined a six-member SDA team contesting in
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Pasil (, also Romanized as Pasīl; also known as Pasīr) is a village in Sepiddasht Rural District, Papi District, Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, ...
during the 2006 general election against a PAP team led by Defence Minister
Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tioⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián, first=poj; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and two-star rear-admiral who served as Senior Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for ...
. At the time, Lim was assistant secretary-general of the SDA. The SDA team lost to the PAP team with 31.3% of the vote against the PAP team's 68.7%. In 2009, Lim became the secretary-general of the SDA. In October 2010, he was replaced with Mohamad Hamim Aliyas as the secretary-general of the SDA by
Chiam See Tong Chiam See Tong (; born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) from 1980 to 1993 and as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore People' ...
during a central executive committee meeting of SPP. SPP founder and chairman
Sin Kek Tong Sin Kek Tong ( zh, s=沈克栋, p=Shěn Kèdòng; died 27 February 2017) was a Singaporean politician. A former member of Singapore People's Party (SPP), Sin served as the Singapore People's Party chairman between 1996 and 2012 and Secretary-Gen ...
said Chiam's move was due to Lim opposing Reform Party (RP) joining the SDA. However, in an SDA council meeting held shortly after, the council rejected the decision of Chiam and Lim remained as the secretary-general. In March 2011, Chiam pulled SPP out of the SDA. As a result, Lim left SPP and rejoined SJP. He was appointed secretary-general of SJP. Lim also became the chairman of the SDA. In the
2011 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April 2011 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post sys ...
, Lim contested in a three-cornered fight in the Punggol East SMC. He ultimately lost to the PAP candidate Michael Palmer, who had 54.54% of the vote. Lim's share of the vote, at 4.45%, was significantly lower than that of the other opposition candidate,
Lee Li Lian Lee Li Lian (; born 19 July 1978) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), she was the Member of Parliament for Punggol East SMC between 2013 and 2015. Lee made her political debut in the 2011 general elect ...
of the
Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...
(WP), who had 41.01% of the vote. Due to having garnered lower than 12.5% of the vote, Lim forfeited his S$16,000 election deposit under Singapore's electoral rules. In 2013, after Palmer resigned from the PAP and gave up his parliamentary seat in Punggol East SMC, a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was scheduled to be held on 26 January. Lim announced his decision to contest as a SDA candidate in the by-election, which turned out to be a four-cornered fight pitting Lim against three other candidates: Koh Poh Koon of PAP; Lee of WP; and
Kenneth Jeyaretnam Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam (born 7 March 1959) is a Singaporean politician and hedge fund manager who has been appointed as the Secretary-General of the opposition Reform Party (Singapore), Reform Party since 2009. He is the elder son of J. B. ...
of RP. On 21 January, Lim started uploading a series of videos of his speeches, calling it an "online rally" and talking about issues such as the high costs of living and high property prices in Singapore. Although he was derided for his poor diction, he said he was not disheartened and felt that he should not be judged on his command of English, but on how he could serve the people. It was also reported that some residents admired his "underdog indefatigability". Lim ultimately lost the by-election, having garnered just 0.57% of the vote, the lowest among the four candidates: Lee won with 54.5% of the vote, while Koh and Jeyaratnam had 43.73% and 1.2% respectively. As he had lower than 12.5% of the vote, Lim forfeited his S$14,500 election deposit, becoming the second candidate in Singaporean electoral history after
Harbans Singh Harbans Singh (6 March 1921 – 30 May 1998) was an educationist, administrator, scholar and the editor-in-chief of the ''Encyclopaedia of Sikhism''. He was respected for his contributions to Sikh scholarship and Punjabi literary studies and ha ...
to forfeit his election deposit twice. His electoral result of 0.57% was at the time the lowest any candidate or party got in an election since Singapore gained independence in 1965, beating Teo Kim Hoe's result of 0.81% in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. Lim joined a six-member SDA team contesting in
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Pasil (, also Romanized as Pasīl; also known as Pasīr) is a village in Sepiddasht Rural District, Papi District, Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, ...
again during the 2015 general election against the PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister
Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tioⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián, first=poj; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and two-star rear-admiral who served as Senior Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for ...
. The SDA team lost to the PAP team with 27.11% of the vote against the PAP team's 72.89%. In 2020, Lim announced that he would be stepping down from his position as SDA chairman after the general election that year. He joined a five-member SDA team to contest in a three-cornered fight in
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Pasil (, also Romanized as Pasīl; also known as Pasīr) is a village in Sepiddasht Rural District, Papi District, Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, ...
against the PAP team led by Senior Minister
Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tioⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián, first=poj; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and two-star rear-admiral who served as Senior Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for ...
and another team from the opposition Peoples Voice led by
Lim Tean Lim Tean ( ; ; born 17 November 1964) is a Singaporean lawyer and politician. He is the founder of the political party Peoples Voice and was appointed as Peoples Voice secretary-general. He previously was appointed as secretary-general of the N ...
. The SDA team lost with 23.67% against the PAP team's 64.16%, but did better than the Peoples Voice team's 12.17%. In 2025, Lim decided to carry on as the SDA chairman as he claimed that he was "talked into carrying on in his role". He subsequently led the SDA team again in the newly formed Pasir Ris-Changi GRC for the
2025 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 3 May 2025 to elect all Member of parliament, members of the Parliament of Singapore across Constituencies of Singapore, 33 constituencies. It was the 19th general election in Singapore's history sinc ...
against the PAP team led by
Indranee Rajah Indranee Thurai Rajah (; born 12 April 1963) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance since 2018 and Second Minister for National Development and ...
where they lost with 32.34% of the vote compared to the 67.66% of the PAP.


Personal life

Lim is married and has a child.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Desmond 1968 births Living people Singaporean engineers Singapore People's Party politicians Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent University of Wollongong alumni