Former left-wing leader Lim Kean Chye dies at 103

 

Founding member of the now defunct Malayan Democratic Union and well-known Cambridge-trained lawyer Lim Kean Chye passed away peacefully on Wednesday night, according to family and friends.

He was 103 and was widely hailed by comrades as a towering Malaysian independence fighter and nationalist.

According to former Bersih leader Toh Kin Woon, Kean Chye was a towering Malaysian patriot who dedicated the early years of his life to fighting the British imperialists.

"He was a great intellectual giant who had much to share on history, politics and music," said Toh, a former exco member of the Penang Gerakan administration before 2008.

Kean Chye's family was active in politics. His father, Lim Cheng Ean, was a legislative councillor in the 1930s.

Kean Chye's brother, the late Lim Kean Siew, another popular personality, was the founder and secretary-general of the Labour Party of Malaya.

Kean Siew was also a member of parliament for Datuk Keramat, Penang, in 1959 and 1964.

Both brothers were active in left-wing politics when the struggle for Malaya and Singapore’s independence from the British was at its peak.

Their late sister Lim Phaik Gan, known as PG Lim, was also a Labour Party activist who served as a lawyer and diplomat. 

She was Malaysia's first female ambassador and served as Malaysia's Ambassador to the United Nations, Yugoslavia, Austria, and the European Economic Community during her diplomatic career.

Kean Chye was cremated in Batu Gantang, Penang, at 3pm today, in a quiet ceremony attended by close family and friends.

The Malay Mail reported his daughter, Lim Miao Yiong, saying: "There will not be a funeral, a wake, or any ceremony because my father did not like fuss, so it will be a private cremation with close family members."

“The portal stated that Lim is survived by his widow, daughters Miao Ling and Miao Yiong, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. - Mkini