Lim Hock Siew (; 21 February 1931 – 4 June 2012) was a
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
an politician,
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...
and medical doctor.
Education
Lim attended the Rangoon Road School and then the
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...
. Then he studied medicine at the
University of Malaya
The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...
. At university, he was a committed founder-member of the
University Socialist Club (USC) and a leader of the university's student union.
Career
Political career
In 1953, he met
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
, then a young lawyer helping to defend eight USC students charged for
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...
by the British. They won the case and the USC rallied behind Lee Kuan Yew and his associates when they formed the
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) in 1954. Lim was a member of the PAP from its inception until 1961, and as its member campaigned in the 1955 and 1959 Singapore general elections.
On 26 July 1961, thirteen left-wing PAP assemblymen who had abstained in a crucial vote of confidence for the government held five days earlier were expelled from the PAP. Lim left the PAP on his own accord and resigned from his government service doctor post in 1961.
In the same year, he became a member of the
Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis (BS), also known as the Socialist Front, is a defunct left-wing political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and was officially registered on 13 August 1961 by the leftist faction of the People's Action Party (PA ...
, a party which was formed in 1961 by the 13 expelled PAP assemblymen and 6 prominent left-leaning trade unions leaders.
Political detention
On 2 February 1963, along with over 110 other
leftists
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
and unionists, Lim was arrested during
Operation Coldstore
Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert anti-communist security operation that took place in Singapore on 2 February 1963, which was then an internally self-governing state within the British Empire. It led to the arrest of 113 peop ...
, a massive security crackdown ordered by the government and targeted at communists and alleged communists. Immediately after his arrest, he was detained without trial indefinitely under the
Internal Security Act. At the time of his arrest he was only 32 years old and his son was just 5 months old. During his two-decade-long detention at
Changi Prison
Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison complex in the namesake district of Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. It is the oldest and largest prison in the country, covering an area of about . Opened in 193 ...
, he constantly refused to repudiate his political beliefs despite being given every opportunity to do so.
About 9 years into his detention, he was asked to sign a statement committing to support the democratic system in Singapore, and not to participate in politics. He refused, pointing out that the two demands were contradictory: if a democratic system really existed in Singapore, then there would be no reason for him to be deprived of his right to participate in politics.
Release from detention
He was released from political detention on 6 September 1982 and was Singapore’s second-longest-serving political prisoner after
Chia Thye Poh
Chia Thye Poh (born 4 April 1941) is a Singaporean former politician. A former member of the Barisan Sosialis, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Jurong SMC between 1963 and 1966. He was the 4th Leader of the Opposition in 1966.
A ...
. After his release, Lim repeatedly called for the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA).
In 1980,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
issued a public statement naming Lim as a "
prisoner of conscience
A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...
."
In September 2011, together with 15 former ISA detainees, he issued two joint statements calling for the abolition of the Act and the setting up of an independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the allegations made against ISA detainees. Lim also sued book publisher
Editions Didier Millet, the
National Library Board
The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Digital Development and Information of the government of Singapore. The board manages the public libraries throughout the country.
The national l ...
,
Peter Lim and
Tien Wah Press in 2011 over a news item in a book, ''Chronicle Of Singapore: Fifty Years Of Headline News (1959-2009)''.
Medical career
After his release from detention, Lim worked at the Rakyat Clinic (人民药房) along
Balestier
Balestier () is a sub zone located in the planning area of Novena, Singapore, Novena in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. The main road, Balestier Road, links Thomson Road, Singapore, Thomson Road to Serangoon Road and ...
Road as a
general practitioner
A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice.
GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
, together with Dr Mohd Abu Bakar. He not only dispensed free medicine for poor patients, but also gave them transport money to go home.
Personal life
Lim was the second of ten children of a
fishmonger
A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, ...
.
Lim married Dr Beatrice Chen Tsung Mong (1932–2025) in October 1961 and their only son, Lim Yue Wen, was born in 1962.
Death
Lim had been suffering from kidney failure for three years since 2009 but, according to his family, had otherwise been in good health until he bumped his head at home at the end of May 2012 and was sent to hospital. He was in stable condition at the
Parkway East Hospital, but experienced a fatal heart attack at 10:30 PM on 4 June 2012.
Lim's funeral was held on 8 June 2012 and he was cremated on the same day at the
crematorium
A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...
at
Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery
The Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (KMSPKS), more popularly known as Bright Hill Temple, (), is a Buddhist temple and monastery located along 88 Bright Hill Road in Bishan, Singapore.
It was built in 1921 by Venerable Zhuan Dao to prop ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Hock Siew
1931 births
2012 deaths
Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Singapore
Singaporean prisoners and detainees
University of Malaya alumni
Singaporean general practitioners
Singaporean people of Hokkien descent
Singaporean healthcare managers
20th-century Singaporean physicians
People's Action Party politicians
Barisan Sosialis politicians