©New Straits Times (Used
by permission)
GEORGE TOWN: About 300 people paid their last respects to former Penang
MCA chief and prominent lawyer Lim Kean Siew at the Batu Gantong crematorium
yesterday.
Among them were Komtar state assemblyman Datuk Lim Gim Soon,
Pengkalan Kota state assemblyman Lee Hack Teik and Bagan Jermal state
assemblyman Ooi Chuan Aik.
Opposition party leaders, including Tanjong member of parliament Chow Kon Yeow,
state DAP secretary Danny Law Heng Kiang and state DAP action bureau chief Tham
Weng Fatt, also paid their last respects.
Others included representatives from non–governmental organisations, those in
the legal profession and Lim’s friends.
Gerard Chan, a former partner in Lim’s legal firm, read the eulogy.
Chan, who was Lim’s partner for 15 years, was full of praise
for Lim and described the lawyer as someone who saw the practice of law as a
means to provide a noble service to clients and not merely as a business.
“He was fond of calling young lawyers into his chambers to give them impromptu
tests on different aspects of the law, often in front of clients.
“I have heard that flying files were often the consequence of an incorrect
response, which only served to further add to the stress of many a young lawyer
working in his firm,” Chan said.
He added there were three attributes which set Lim apart from his peers — a
natural thirst for knowledge and beauty not just in law but also in other
aspects of life; his love for people especially those he thought were victims of
injustice and bureaucracy; and his spirituality.
Lim, 85, died on Sunday of heart failure.
He is survived by wife Pamela Ong, three sons and a daughter.