Lim Kim San

Lim Kim San ( born November 30, 1916 in Singapore, † 20 July 2006) was a Singaporean politician. It will be given the implementation of a successful social housing program, which softened the in the 1960s extremely acute problem of housing shortage in Singapore.

• 3.1 Political career after independence
• 3.2 Other work and Honorary Appointments

Youth

On November 30, 1916 Lim Kim San was born as the first of six children in Singapore. He attended the Anglo - Chinese School and later at Raffles College, where he studied economics.

When, in the course of the Second World War, the Japanese troops in February 1942 overran the British garrison in Singapore and Singapore occupied, Lim was one of many residents who on the way to suspect that he was pro- Communist and pro-British by the Japanese were tortured. For a long time after the end of the occupation Lim said that those who survived the Japanese reign of terror in Singapore " this will never be forgotten." But Lim also said that - although traumatic and humiliating - this drastic decision was politicized his generation critical and Singaporean attitude contributed " to let his fate never determined by others."

After the end of the war, Lim was in his own words, " a young man in a hurry to earn a living ," to compensate for the wasted years. He became a millionaire shortly after he invented a machine that made ​​it possible to produce sago pearls priced. After that, he held a number of directorships banks.

Activity in the Housing and Development Board

In the 1960s, over 400,000 people lived in Singapore due to the limited living space in completely overcrowded ramshackle " Chophouse " buildings, or as squatters in appalling living conditions. These were the conditions that Lim 1960 found when he occupied a post in the Housing and Development Board (HDB) of Singapore, for which he had volunteered and in which he received the first three years, no salary. In this position, Lim Kim San led by a huge house and housing program, which Singapore was built with extensive high-rise complexes in the course, which is the most widespread of accommodation in Singapore today.

House Plan

Already early on, Lim made ​​a name with its organizational and planning skills. Instead of following a detailed work plan, Lim chose a little detailed planning framework to address as quickly as possible based on only rough estimates of housing needs, the solution of the problem. This approach meant that during the first two years of house building program, 25,000 new homes were built, more than in the entire previous decade. This punished Lim all skeptics lies, especially the Singapore Development Board, which had stated that it would be impossible for him to build 10,000 new homes or even more within a year. As part of this skepticism, the Singapore Development Board opened a committee headed by Lim Tay Boh, to determine whether the Housing and Development Board with the means available capacity and resources can achieve the ambitious goal of the construction program at all. Ironically, the house building program reached the target to build 10,000 new homes within a year before the committee had completed its report.

Success of the construction program

With regard to the First Five -Year Plan of the HDB, which provided the construction of 51,000 new flats, HDB reached this goal by 1965. Biggest project this time was Queenstown, a satellite city with 17,500 flats which almost 150,000 people were able to accommodate. In order to address the growing problem of clogged roads, the construction project was planned as a self-sufficient settlement in which all shops and facilities are located in the settlement, so that residents of Queenstown would not travel to other parts of the city. This approach to the Queenstown project, which eventually became The general philosophy for social housing in Singapore, is made responsible for ensuring that the traffic problems in the urban center of Singapore have significantly decreased since the 1960s and 1970s.

In May 1961 more than 16,000 people were left homeless as a result of the Bukit Ho Swee - fire. Under Lim's leadership the lost residential capacity was rebuilt in less than four years and the people who had lost their homes during the fire, 8,000 new homes were provided.

The success of the state house building project is attributed by some to the standardized architecture that was used in the design of high-rise designs. Another factor is Lim's decision to relay many of the construction projects to private contractors, rather than directly to make itself a construction worker. This allowed the HDB to focus on ensuring and maintaining quality standards and absolved it of operational questions of detail with which the private construction companies could handle better. Finally, the comparatively to government- led housing by lower costs led to low housing costs for large parts of the population.

This success tempted some in Singapore with the statement, Lim was saved by his house building program, the rule of the People's Action Party (PAP ), which found itself suspended due to the problematic living conditions harsh criticism in the 1960s. In contrast, Lim stressed that the success of the construction program would not have been possible if the government does not explain social housing one of its top priorities and accordingly financially and would continue to be supported supported.

Political Relations

A critical success factor for the state house building program constitutes the close relationship between Lim Kim San and the then incumbent Prime Minister and founding father Lee Kuan Yew, the basis of which Lim Lee enjoyed trust and this him a free hand left. Another close political relationship, there was then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee, Lim which it allowed significant financial resources for the housing program to secure. Finally, a wide network contributed for political relations between Lim and members of the PAP significantly Lim's ability at to circumvent hyperbürokratische processes and structures, or to overcome what had a significant effect on the speed and efficiency of the construction program.

Honorary positions and political career

In June 1962 Lim was the Order of Temasek, Singapore's highest state award given, as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work as a manager for the benefit of the community, which has been referred to as a model for a developing country. In September 1963, Lim was set up by the PAP as a candidate for a post in the Singapore Legislative Assembly for the Cairn Hill District, he won an election which with a huge two-thirds majority. His political and administrative success meant that Lim was appointed in October 1963 to the Minister of Development. In addition, Lim was the PAP because of its ability to accurately assess the merits of others, as a " talent scout " used.

Political career after independence

After Singapore became independent in 1965, Lim took two years true finance minister before he became Minister of Interior and Defence. He had held from 1967 to 1970, when he was promoted to chairman of the Public Utilities Board, which should encounter another urgent problem of Singapore, the shortage of drinking water through the construction of new water reservoirs this post. He held from 1971 to 1978 this function.

Other work and Honorary Appointments

In addition to his political career associated offices Lim was 15 years as chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority, the Singapore Port Authority, and gave in 1994 the Office continued. In this role he oversaw the development of Singapore's port capacity, which meant that Singapore rose to world's largest port and a hub between the movement of goods in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. To date, the port of Singapore is the world's largest port remains vice proposed transport volume in the category and has been surpassed by the Port of Shanghai in the categories of freight volume and Kontaineranzahl in 2005 and 2010.

In addition, Lim served by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Monetary Authority from 1981 to 1982 as Deputy Superintendent, as well as Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings. In the latter position, he transformed the company to a globally active media group. In addition, Lim took advantage of the post of Chairman of the Council of presidential adviser and was the first Chancellor of the Singapore Management University ( SMU).

Retirement from politics

Although Lim already withdrew from the political events of the day in the 1980s, he remained even in his old age an active public figure.

After a long illness Lim finally died on 20 July 2006 at his home, five children, twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren leaving behind. In recognition of his services to the Singapore flags were placed on all government buildings in Singapore the day of his funeral at half-mast.

• Politicians (Singapore )
• Born 1916
• Died in 2006
• Man