We, the children of Madam Lim Siew Kim, regret to inform the peaceful passing of our mother on 14/7/22 in our family home in Ampang.
Together with her husband and our father, the late Dick Chan Teik Huat, Madam Lim was instrumental in transforming Kuala Lumpur into the world class, cosmopolitan city it is today.
Dick Chan was born the second son in a large family in Teluk Intan. In his youth, he was one of the first Commonwealth Scholars to study in Australia and one of the first Malaysian sons to obtain a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne. He subsequently became an Australian Chartered Accountant.
Returning to Kuala Lumpur, he then founded Kassim Chan & Co (subsequently Deloitte Kassim Chan) with the late Kassim bin Sulong in 1968.
During the course of his work as an auditor for the then 3 year old Genting Group, he met Madam Lim Siew Kim who was helping in the establishment of the first Genting Hotel complex, leading to their marriage in the 1970s.
Together, this visionary couple founded Metroplex Berhad. They developed and built Wisma Central and Wisma Equity (by the iconic architect Hiijas Kasturi) among other notable projects.
Perhaps the couple’s most famous landmark was The Mall and Putra Place, the first integrated Shopping Mall, Office and Hotel tower in Malaysia at the fringe of Chow Kit in 1987.
Considered the largest shopping mall in Malaysia in its time, Madam SK Lim invited the legendary German-Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler to design the complex.
Famed for his iconic atrium designs, as evidenced by the original waterfall atrium in the complex, the resulting Malaysian temple-inspired building is still a striking part of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.
Dick and SK also established many housing estates and built affordable link, terrace houses and apartment complexes on scale in the 1980s and 1990s. They also operated a casino in Subic Bay in the 1990s.
Madam Lim Siew Kim herself was the Chairman of Anglo Eastern Plantations, a London listed plantation company.
Mindful of their contribution to society at large, the couple also established Dikim Foundation which funded education scholarships and believed in charitable giving.
Most recently, Madam SK also donated the use of the Grand Seasons Hotel complex to the Malaysian government in the support of Covid-19 relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.
