Malaysian-born Aussie MP Lim to focus on social change

BY CECIL FUNG

KUALA LUMPUR: Australian Dr Richard Lim has been treating patients for more than a decade but it is not enough for this Malaysian-born to change society for the better. 

The 58-year-old decided to leave the comfort of his profession and venture into politics. 

“I feel my service is limited as there is only so much a doctor can do to help people,” he said in an interview recently. 

“A politician is basically an agent of change. We try to bring about positive social change,” said Dr Lim who was the first Malaysian-born to be elected into the Australian Parliament when he was voted into the Northern Territory’s Legislative Assembly in 1994. 

Dr Richard Lim

As the territory’s current Deputy Opposition Leader and Employment, Education and Training Minister in the shadow Cabinet, Dr Lim is making education his top priority.  

“If you are not properly educated or able to communicate well, you are not going to be gainfully employed,” said Dr Lim who is also Treasurer in the shadow Cabinet.  

He said a large proportion of the Australian aborigines missed out on proper education because they only knew their own indigenous language. 

“What we need is a link language. In Malaysia, you have Bahasa Melayu while in Australia, the link language is English,” he said. 

With that in mind, Dr Lim travelled to New Delhi, Penang and Taiping recently to consult early childhood education experts to prepare a policy, which can ensure that education is brought to everyone in the Northern Territory.  

“We want to have a system in place in the Northern Territory to allow children of all ethnic backgrounds to be proficient in English so that they won’t miss out on education,” he added. 

With the Australian election due to be called “anytime from now until August next year,” Dr Lim is both positive and hopeful about it. 

If his party, the Country Liberal Party, were to win in the election, he would be the Northern Territory’s next Deputy Chief Minister and might even be appointed Asian Relations and Trade Minister.