SINGAPORE : Former Cabinet Minister Lim Kim San has died a few
months before his 90th birthday.
One of his sons-in-law told Channel NewsAsia that Mr Lim died of
natural causes on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Lim was best known as "Mr HDB" for his role in providing
low-cost housing for thousands of Singaporeans in the 1960s.
Born in Singapore in 1916, he was educated at Anglo-Chinese School
and Raffles College.
During the Japanese Occupation, he was tortured after he denied
allegations that he was pro-communist and pro-British.
He later said the brutality of the Japanese forces politicised his
generation.
After the war, he made his first million when he came up with a
machine to produce sago pearls cheaply.
He then went on to become a director of several banks and was
appointed chairman of the new Housing Development Board in
1960.
He solved Singapore's housing problem by marshalling resources to
build 10,000 units a year, a feat unheard of at the time.
In the 1963 General Election, he won the Cairnhill seat and was
appointed National Development Minister.
During his long and distinguished public career, Mr Lim also held
Cabinet posts in Finance, Defence, Education and Environment.
After retiring from politics in 1980, Mr Lim held various posts,
among them Executive Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings, and
Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisors.
He was also the first Chancellor of the Singapore Management
University.
Mr Lim's family are in the process of making the wake and funeral
arrangements.
When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, family members said Mr Lim died
peacefully at about 5.30pm on Thursday at his Dalvey Road
residence.
They said he had been ill for sometime.
Mr Lim's wake is likely to be held at the family's Dalvey Road
home. - CNA /ct
