PETALING JAYA: Muar-born Australian MP Sam Lim gave a brief yet heartfelt speech in Malay, in his maiden address at the Australian Parliament since his election in May.
Lim, a former policeman, told the House of Representatives he would like to express his gratitude to Malaysians in the first two languages he learned – Malay and Mandarin.
“Words are not enough to express my gratitude, but right now, they are all I have,” said Lim, who is the MP for Tangney in Perth, Western Australia.
“To all my friends in Malaysia, Australia and abroad, thank you for all your care and love.
“Special thanks to all who have reached out to support and help me in the Australian general election. Thank you all,” he said.
A video of his speech was posted by fellow MP Tim Watts on his Twitter account.
Watts heaped praise on Lim for his multilingual speech, saying it was a reflection of the thriving diversity in Australia’s local community.
Lim, a Labor party candidate, defeated Ben Morton of the Liberal party with a 9.5% margin in May, as Labor ended almost a decade of conservative rule by the Liberal-National coalition in the federal parliamentary elections.
In what was regarded as an unlikely result, Lim’s victory was part of a wave of support for candidates who campaigned for more action on climate change as the conservatives were punished by voters in the state and affluent urban seats.
In an interview with FMT in December 2020, Lim said he was a former police officer in Malaysia who quit after two years because of the low pay.
He emigrated to Australia in 2002 with his wife and three children, and he went back to doing what he loved – joining the Western Australian Police Force at the age of 45.
He was named Western Australia’s police officer of the year in 2020 for his work with migrant communities.
Lim is the second Malaysian-born person to become a member of the Australian federal Parliament. Penny Wong, born in Kota Kinabalu, had been elected to the Senate, representing South Australia, since 2002.
She was appointed as Australia’s foreign minister after the Labor party swept into power in May. - FMT
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