Peter Lim

Peter Lim (born 1938) is a Singaporean freelance writer and media consultant. He was a journalist for 33 years in the Straits Times Press. In 1978, he became Editor-in-Chief of Straits Times Press and in 1987 he was assigned as the founding chief editor to plan and start The New Paper.

In 1996, he raced around the world in the 11-month-long Clipper ’95, as a crewmember of the sailing yacht Mermerus that came in second. A former president of the Singapore Yachting Association, he is now advisor of SingaporeSailing.

=Childhood and teenage years=

Lim was born in 1938, shortly before the Japanese Occupation started in 1942. Japan had surrendered in 1945, and he enrolled in school after the liberation of Singapore in 1946 at the age of 8 years. He went to Anglo-Chinese School, but did not take his A-levels or go to University because he came from a poor family background and dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot.

He joined the Malayan Air Training Corps, passed the first eye test and was chosen for some elementary flying lessons. The next eye-test was in six months’ time, but within the first three months, he already found himself becoming shortsighted.

Lim did not want to tell anybody and hoped it would go away. He feels that it sounds silly now, but he wanted to carry on. One day during a flight, the instructor suddenly sternly said, “ I am taking over,” and he knew he had been caught. The instructor told him to take an eye test, and when he failed, it felt like the end of the world. He had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, not because he wanted to kill people, but because it was his dream job. So basically, he was an aviation dropout that landed in journalism.

During his last year in school, the Commandant of the Malayan Air Training Corps knew that he could not fly anymore. The Commandant was from the UK and an officer in the British Royal Air Force, but he was also a senior journalist. The Straits Times employed him as the their news editor, and while working full-time, he also volunteered his services to the Malayan Air Training Corps.

The Commandant asked Lim when his school holidays were. He replied March and the Commandant said, “Ok, I’m the news editor of The Staits Times. You come on as a part-time reporter for two weeks. We won’t pay you, but you’ll have the best holiday of your life.” Lim felt that The Straits Times was stingy in those days during the 1950s and was still stingy today, but it was a great job. The Commandant brought him into journalism and Lim owe him his career.

That same year, Lim won an international essay competition. The essay competition allowed him to visit New York to represent Singapore in The New York Herald Tribune Youth Forum. The title of that competition was "The World We Want.” It was a fantastic experience and also contributed to his career in journalism.

Lim's first impression of America was a very favorable one. There were five of them from South East Asia – teenagers from Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore – and they were all put on a first class flight to New York. During the flight there was a crew change, and a stewardess came on board who was very attentive and good-looking. She was a junior in first class.

They were flying to New York at Christmas time and it was very very cold. The other teens were alright but Lim was feeling extremely cold. He asked her for a blanket but the stewardess said a blanket would not help. Instead, she told him to try an eggnog to warm me up. He told her he was a kid and could not consume alcohol, but she said it was alright. He tried it, and it instantly made him feel better.

She was so sweet and kind, so naturally he fell in love with her. He asked her for her name and discovered she was based in Germany. He sent her a postcard and she actually wrote back! But after a while, they lost contact.

=See also=
 * AWARE saga

=References=