Lim Tean

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lim.

Lim Tean (born November 17, 1964) is a Singaporean opposition politician and a lawyer. He is the founding leader of Peoples Voice, the 11th political party in Singapore, and previously served as Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party from 30 August 2015 to 18 May 2017. He identifies as centre-left, and has been associated with both Progressive and Social Democratic causes. Lim is currently the representing lawyer of prominent anti-government critic and blogger Leong Sze Hian in the ongoing high profile case brought by current Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Lim Tean was born in 1964 as the eldest son of Lim Chin Teong, a senior Singaporean civil servant and former Chief Executive Director of the People's Association in the late 70's and early 80's, and his mother Aw Eng Lian, a Chinese-language teacher at Zhonghua Girls School for over 40 years. Both of Lim's parents graduated from (the now defunct) Nanyang University (Nantah).

At age seven, Lim was sent to Montfort Junior School for his primary education. However, after being sent to study Russian in Moscow by the Singapore Government, his father accepted a posting as First Secretary for the Singaporean mission to the Soviet Union, and Lim travelled with his family to live in Moscow. While in the USSR, Lim attended the Anglo-American School of Moscow from 1971-1974.

After three years in the Soviet Union, Lim's parents became increasingly worried about the state of his children's education. They resolved for Lim's father to leave the foreign service and return to Singapore and return to the civil service. Consequently, Lim returned to Montfort Junior School in Primary 4. He continued there until completion, and went on to attend Montfort Secondary School. After graduating from Montfort Secondary School, Lim entered Hwa Chong Junior College, where he was elected as a student councillor, taking Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Maths for his A-levels.

After his graduation from Junior College, Lim Tean served two years of compulsory military service. He joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and after completing his basic training entered Officer Cadet School (OCS) where he was trained as an artillery officer.

In 1985 after National Service, Lim left for England to study Law at the University of Reading. After obtaining his LLB in 1988, he moved to London and qualified as a barrister at the Middle Temple. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1989. He went on to read a Master of Law (LLM) degree at the University of Cambridge, Gonville and Cauis College. Lim remained at Cambridge from 1989-1990.

After finishing his LLM, Lim returned to Singapore and joined the noted law firm Drew & Napier LLC in 1990. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar in June 1991. While at Drew and Napier, Lim became the pupil of Steven Chong, who would go on to become the Singaporean Attorney-General from 2012-2014. Lim remained at Drew and Napier until 1997. He moved to Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP on 2 January 1998 and became Head of the Admiralty & Shipping department in 2000.In 2007, Lim became an equity partner in Rajah and Tann, joining the ranks of such noted alumni as VK Rajah, Steven Chong and Sundaresh Menon.

Additionally in 2007, Lim left the legal practice and Rajah and Tann to enter the business world. He founded an Indonesian mining company based out of Sulawesi. His mining company became the first company to produce and ship iron-ore from the island. In 2017, Lim returned to Singapore and founded his law firm Carson Law Chambers.

In September 2013, a chinese national, Mr Huang and Lim Tean entered into an agreement in which Mr Huang agreed to lend US$150,000 to Mr Lim. In 2017, Mr Huang filed a bankruptcy application against Mr Lim last year when the sum remained unpaid even after the Chinese national won a court judgement to recover the loan. Mr Lim, who is a lawyer, argued that the sum was not a loan, but a down payment for the sale of iron ore to Mr Huang's company in Hong Kong but failed to persuade a State Courts deputy registrar, who ordered Mr Lim to repay the loan. On appeal, the decision was affirmed by a district judge, who noted that the language of Mr Lim's e-mail amounted to a clear admission that the sum was a loan. Mr Lim appealed to the High Court but withdrew the appeal on Jan 15. A day later, he issued two cheques to settle the debt and legal costs, ahead of a bankruptcy hearing scheduled on Jan 17.

Lim’s first involvement in politics was in 2011, when he joined the National Solidarity Party (NSP). However, he remained relatively inactive within the party until 2015, when the then Secretary-General Hazel Poa resigned in protest over the party’s policy regarding multi-cornered contests.

Just a week before the 2015 General Elections, the National Solidarity Party approached Lim Tean and asked if he would serve as the new Secretary-General. Despite the relatively short time before the election, Lim Tean accepted and along with a team of candidates contested Tampines GRC, receiving 24.9% of the votes cast. He is the only person to ever be appointed to the post of Secretary-General without having held any party office in Singapore. In May 2017, Lim Tean resigned as Secretary-General of the NSP, citing disagreements with the party.

Despite lacking an official role in Singaporean politics, Lim continued to grow a significant social media following online. He became well known in Singapore for the various speeches and videos made between March 2017 and October 2018. In the summer of 2018, Lim began to call for an alliance of Singaporean opposition parties.

In 29 October 2018, Lim announced the founding of a new political party, Peoples Voice, headed by himself.