Lim Yi Wei is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party, one of the three component parties of the Pakatan Harapan coalition. She is currently the assembly woman of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly for Kampung Tunku constituency in the state of Selangor. She is also division chief for DAP Socialist Youth Damansara and organising secretary of the DAP Selangor women's wing.
Personal life
Lim is the eldest of three children born to Lim Chin Chye, a retired lecturer at Institut Perguruan Sultan Abdul Halim, Sungai Petani, and Wong Wai Ping, a retired teacher SK La Salle, Ipoh. Outside politics, she played some university rugby. She also has a YouTube channel of piano covers.
Education
Lim completed her primary education at SK Marian Convent, Ipoh and her secondary education at SMK Methodist Ipoh before taking the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia at SMK Methodist Ipoh. She graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance on a scholarship sponsored by Kerry Holdings Ltd. As an international student representative in the HKUST Business School Undergraduate Representatives’ Committee, she helped establish the Business Cohort Community to help integrate freshmen into the varsity community. In 2013, she ran an emergency fundraiser in HKUST to support Typhoon Haiyan disaster victims. The 2-day fundraiser raised HKD 75,000.
Early career
Upon graduating, Lim worked as a conference producer covering Asia at Incisive Media’s Hong Kong office. Her portfolio included two brands: Waterstechnology, covering financial technology and data for capital markets; and Risk.net, covering risk management, derivatives and regulation. Her flagship conference was the Asia Pacific Financial Information Conference 2014 and 2015, featuring technology providers such as Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Markit; exchanges such as CME Group, Singapore Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ; and buy-side and sell-side firms across Asia. Lim also pioneered the first Asia Pacific blockchain training course for capital markets players, Blockchain Bootcamp, held in Singapore in May 2016. Despite having left Incisive for Malaysian politics by then, the bootcamp has been replicated in Hong Kong and Sydney, with a subsequent Blockchain Applications workshop held in Singapore in March 2017.
Political career
Spurred by the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, Lim decided to return to Malaysia to participate in Malaysian politics. She began her political career as the political secretary of Tony Pua, then MP of Petaling Jaya Utara and DAP National Publicity Secretary. She actively campaigned in the 2016 Sarawak State Elections for the Bukit Goram state seat, as well as the 2016 Sungai Besar by-elections. In September 2016, Lim was appointed as a Councillor for the Petaling Jaya City Council. She championed issues such as youth and women empowerment and mental health, organising various forums and lectures. Lim was nominated as a DAP candidate for the Kampung Tunku state constituency during the 2018 General Elections. She won the seat with a majority of 30,444 votes, beating MCA’s Tan Gim Tuan as well as becoming Kampung Tunku’s first female representative. At the age of 28 she was also one of the youngest candidates to stand for elections in Selangor. After GE14, Lim campaigned actively in the 2019 Cameron Highlands by-elections. Despite being an ethnic Chinese politician, she was posted to the Malay-majority Jelai state constituency and stationed in FELDA Sungai Koyan 3.
Issues and causes
Issues brought by Lim through speeches, writing and programmes as well in the State Assembly include: mental health, youth and women empowerment, civic education, national unity, and culture. Lim is a strong supporter of local cultural efforts such as the awardwinning SK Kampung Tunku Pawana Tari traditional dance team and the Khuan Loke Dragon & Lion Dance Association, which originates from Sungai Way New Village. The Kampung Tunku 2018 Malaysia Day celebration, themed “Kampung Tunku Kampungku”, featured an exhibition of Kampung Tunku's history and notable residents, including the National Laureate Usman Awang and Yap Ah Loy's descendants. Residents also submitted stories and photos growing up and living in Kampung Tunku. Performances and food were provided by local residents and traders. Lim is currently supporting the Selangor Rugby Union women's team and the national women's rugby team through contributing funds and raising awareness about women's rugby.
