Richard Lim Cherng Yih is a Singaporean civil servant and former

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

who served as Chief of Navy from 1996 to 1999.

Education

In 1972, Lim was awarded the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

scholarship, and in 1976, he graduated from the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in nautical studies. After leaving the navy, Lim attended

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

in September 1999, and graduated with a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

Military career

In 1976, Lim enlisted in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

, and served as a naval officer in the

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the Naval warfare, maritime Military branch, service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of ...

. During his career in the military, Lim has held the appointments of Head, Naval Operations Department; Commander, Missile Gun Squadron; Chief of Staff (Naval Staff). Lim was promoted from the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 1 July 1994. In 1995, Lim was also appointed as a board member to the

Economic Development Board The Economic Development Board (EDB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the government of Singapore that plans and executes strategies to sustain Singapore as a leading global hub for business and investment. H ...

. Lim succeeded

Kwek Siew Jin Kwek Siew Jin is a Singaporean former civil servant and former rear-admiral who served as Chief of Navy from 1992 to 1996. After leaving the navy in June 1996, Kwek was appointed as managing director of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit till ...

as the Chief of Navy on 1 July 1996 and stepped down on 30 June 1999. He was succeeded by

Lui Tuck Yew Lui Tuck Yew (; born 16 August 1961) is a Singaporean diplomat, former politician and two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as List of ambassadors of Singapore to the United States, Singapore Ambassador to the United States since 2023. Pri ...

Post-military career

After leaving the navy, Lim was appointed as deputy secretary of technology in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MINDEF). On 1 December 2002, Lim succeeded

Su Guaning Su Guaning () is a Singaporean college administrator and academic who served as the president of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) between 2003 and 2011. He is currently President Emeritus of Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Educa ...

as the chief executive of the

Defence Science and Technology Agency Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore. DSTA is responsible for performing acquisitions management, systems management, systems developme ...

(DSTA). During his tenure, Lim led DSTA in delivering systems to MINDEF, and supported Singapore during

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...

outbreak, before stepping down on 31 December 2007. From 2016 to 2021, Lim served on the advisory board of the engineering systems and design degree programme at

Singapore University of Technology and Design The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is a public university, public autonomous university in Singapore. History The founding president is Thomas L. Magnanti, who is a professor associated with the Massachusetts Institu ...

. Currently, Lim serves as the chairman of the

Energy Market Authority The Energy Market Authority (EMA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. History EMA was set up on 1 April 2001 to take over the regulatory functions of the Public Utilities Board, and ...

and Synapxe. Lim is also an adjunct professor in

industrial systems engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

and management at

Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...

and

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

Awards and decorations

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

, in 2024. * Public Administration Medal (Military) (Gold), in 1997. * Long Service Medal, in 2002. *

Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (20 Years) Medal The Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (20 Years) Medal is a decoration awarded to a member of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) (regardless of regular or NSmen status) who has completed 20 years of continuous service. A clasp ...

* Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (10 Years) Medal * Singapore_Armed_Forces_Good_Service_Medal_ribbon

Singapore Armed Forces Good Service Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Richard 1954 births Living people Singaporean people of Chinese descent Chiefs of the Republic of Singapore Navy Singaporean civil servants Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of London Business School Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Tentera) Singaporean military leaders