63 Facts About Sylvia Lim

Sylvia Lim Swee Lian is a Singaporean politician, lawyer, former police officer and Temasek Polytechnic law lecturer who has been the chairperson of the Workers' Party since 2003.

Sylvia Lim had been a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament between 2006 and 2011 of the 11th Parliament of Singapore.

Sylvia Lim represented the Serangoon division of Aljunied GRC between 2011 and 2020.

Sylvia Lim is currently serving as counsel at Peter Low Chambers LLC.

Sylvia Lim attended CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel, CHIJ St Joseph's Convent and National Junior College before graduating from the National University of Singapore in 1988 with a Bachelor of Laws degree with honours.

Sylvia Lim went on complete a Master of Laws at the University College London in 1989, and was called to the bar in Singapore in 1991.

Sylvia Lim later completed a master's degree in criminal justice from the Michigan State University in 2014, online.

Sylvia Lim later did voluntary editorial work for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme of the Law Society of Singapore.

In 1991, Sylvia Lim joined the Singapore Police Force for three years as a police inspector.

Sylvia Lim initially did investigation work at the Central Police Division Headquarters, and then became a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Sylvia Lim handled litigation work both civil and criminal cases in the High Court, Subordinate Courts and Juvenile Court between 1994 and 1998.

Sylvia Lim joined Temasek Polytechnic in 1998 as a law lecturer.

Sylvia Lim was the Manager of Professional Development and Manager of Continuing Education and Training at the polytechnic's School of Business.

In March 2006, Temasek Polytechnic modified its staffing policies to enable Sylvia Lim to run as a candidate in the general election without having to resign her teaching position at the institution.

Sylvia Lim was cited as feeling "distressed" that opposition parties could contest only one-third of the parliamentary seats during the 2001 general election.

At the 2006 general election, Sylvia Lim led the five-member Workers' Party team to contest the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, campaigning on the slogan "You have a Choice".

The party chose Sylvia Lim to become its Non-constituency Member of Parliament.

Sylvia Lim spoke of her worry that the bill might lead to a backdoor organ trading and profiteering.

Sylvia Lim expressed concerns about a proposed constitutional amendment introduced in April 2010 that would allow magistrates to hear what are called "first mentions" through video conferencing.

Sylvia Lim felt it failed to adequately assure accused people that they were allowed to complain to magistrates about injuries they had sustained or acts of misfeasance against them by the authorities.

In 2011, Sylvia Lim noted that the Compulsory Education Act ensures that all children have the opportunity to receive an education.

Sylvia Lim thus brought to the House's attention the fact that special needs children might have been unintentionally marginalized.

Sylvia Lim's victory made her the first female opposition MP in Singapore's post-independence history.

Sylvia Lim further noted in her speech that Singapore was a co-sponsor of Bhutan's resolution in the United Nations entitled Happiness: Towards a holistic approach to development.

In 2012, Sylvia Lim engaged in a heated debate with Law Minister K Shanmugam where she questioned if the judgement published by the Attorney-General's Chambers with regards to the Woffles Wu speeding case had addressed public concerns on the equitability of Singapore's legal system.

Sylvia Lim questioned why a custodial sentence was not imposed, noting that "aggravating factors" such as Wu abetting someone to provide false information to the police, and that he had committed more than one offence over a prolonged period would have warranted a harsher sentence.

Sylvia Lim added that the government's attempts to encourage childbirths have been "half-hearted".

Sylvia Lim contended that a "material change" was taken to mean a "change in political leadership" as in Aljunied GRC, and questioned how the public interest was served with the presence of such a termination clause.

Sylvia Lim opposed the Public Order Bill in the aftermath of the 2013 Little India riot, characterising the "hasty introduction" of the bill as a "knee-jerk reaction" by the government.

Sylvia Lim noted that the bill would in effect "stigmatise Little India as a special zone requiring special legislation" and that "there are already sufficient powers under our laws" with the Committee of Inquiry set to release its recommendations soon.

Sylvia Lim further expressed concerns with regards to newly imposed liquor control regulations, as well as policing resources and manpower required to handle such occurrences.

Sylvia Lim advocated for a more progressive tax system and strengthening of social safety nets to mitigate inequality, which included tweaking the income tax tiers for high income earners and fixing loopholes in the property tax measures.

Sylvia Lim expressed support for the Pioneer Generation Package rolled out by the government in 2014, but raised concerns with regards to the MediShield Life scheme, particularly for Singaporeans who are already on private medical insurance or those living abroad.

Less than a month before election day on 12 August 2015, Sylvia Lim set up her Instagram account with the first post showing a photo of herself eating oyster omelette at Fengshan Hawker Centre.

Sylvia Lim later replied that it was "unfortunate" that Teo "does not seem to have a sense of humour".

Sylvia Lim added that the fact that all 89 seats were contested by the opposition might have resulted in some pushback, where voters were worried "sooner or later the PAP might be dislodged as a government".

The feel-good factor of the SG50 golden jubilee celebrations, memory of the late Lee Kuan Yew who died in the same year and the unstable economic environment were some other factors Sylvia Lim cited for the results swinging in favour of the ruling party.

Sylvia Lim further noted that "an exceptional nation should have a people whose DNA is being unafraid to fail".

Sylvia Lim argued that the bill was "being bulldozed through Parliament" and "unnecessarily lower[s] the threshold to what amounts to scandalising the courts".

Sylvia Lim expressed "grave concerns" about the bill, saying that the bill will give the public the impression that the government is "using legal costs as a deterrent or prohibitive factor when it comes to litigation with the government".

Sylvia Lim questioned if the leadership of the Attorney-General's Chambers had "recused themselves in advising the Government on any decision it wishes to take on 38 Oxley Road", and "whether these appointments instill public confidence that the AGC will act independently in matters where the Government or Prime Minister has an interest in the outcomes".

Sylvia Lim has opposed the elected presidency, advocating for the president to be an appointed one instead.

Sylvia Lim argued that a president "elected under a PAP government might be pro-PAP and could potentially cripple a non-PAP government in its first term".

Sylvia Lim has suggested since 2006 that a reversion back to the system where the president is appointed by Parliament would "naturally take care of any concerns of minority representation and would not be regressive".

Sylvia Lim further called for a national referendum for Singaporeans to decide whether the public preferred an elected or appointed president.

Sylvia Lim therefore voted against the constitutional amendments on the Presidential Elections Act in February 2017, which would provide for a reserved election if and when an individual from a minority race has not been president for five consecutive terms.

Sylvia Lim took issue with the government's decision to use Wee Kim Wee's presidential term as the basis of starting the count for the hiatus triggered mechanism, arguing that Wee was never elected by the people.

Sylvia Lim was personally present in the Court of Appeal to hear the judgement.

Sylvia Lim delivered her speech on the adjournment motion on 3 October 2017, after two unsuccessful attempts.

Sylvia Lim added that she found the addition of the finality clause "very troubling" and "a position too arrogant for the House to adopt".

Sylvia Lim rose to ask that a division be recorded at the second and third readings of the Bill.

Sylvia Lim questioned if the Government had commissioned independent studies on social mobility using longitudinal data.

On 1 March 2018, Sylvia Lim pointed out that the Government had earlier floated "test balloons" on a possible GST hike but the public noted a contradiction with Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's earlier statements that the Government already had enough money for the decade.

In particular, Shanmugam said that Sylvia Lim had implied that the government was being dishonest by backing down on its plans, which was a "thoroughly hypocritical and dishonest statement typical of the statements she makes in this House".

Sylvia Lim fired back, "The Government can rebut our speeches robustly, that's fine, but I don't think I'm disentitled to come to Parliament to advance honestly held beliefs or suspicions".

Fu had said Sylvia Lim "cannot contend that her suspicion remains reasonable and honestly held" when clarification has been given to her by ministers in Parliament and elsewhere.

Sylvia Lim was not present in the chamber when Fu made her statement.

Sylvia Lim responded to the issue in Parliament on 8 March 2018.

Sylvia Lim reiterated that the public was worried about the impending GST hike, and she was not accusing the government of dishonesty.

The continued attacks on Sylvia Lim were met with much public criticism and cynicism on how "small-minded" Singapore's leaders were.

Former PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock weighed in on the issue, voicing out on how the ministers were "brow-beating" Sylvia Lim to extract an apology from her.

Sylvia Lim is an elected member of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

Sylvia Lim has been in a relationship with former national football player, Quah Kim Song since 2013.