Maggie Lim Explained

Maggie Lim
Birth Name:Maggie Tan
Birth Date:5 January 1913
Birth Place:Singapore
Death Date:November 1995 (aged 82)
Death Place:Claremont, California
Occupation:Physician, public health official, college professor
Father:Tan Kwee Swee
Spouse(S):Lim Hong Bee
Relatives:

Maggie Lim (5 January 1913 – November 1995, [1]) was a Singaporean physician and public health official. She was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame posthumously, in 2014.

Early life

Maggie Tan was born into a prominent family, the daughter of businessman Tan Kwee Swee,[2] granddaughter of businessman Tan Kim Ching, and great-granddaughter of Chinese philanthropist Tan Tock Seng.[3] She attended Raffles Girls' School, and later, by special arrangement, Raffles Boys' School.[4] [5] In 1930, she was the first Singaporean schoolgirl to win a Queen's Scholarship. (Her brother Tan Thoon Lip won the same scholarship the previous year.)[6] She earned a medical degree at the London School of Medicine for Women and the Royal Free Hospital. She returned to Singapore in 1940.[7]

Career

During World War II, Lim was a camp doctor at Endau Settlement in Johor, supporting the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army. After the war, Lim was an obstetrician and public health official in Singapore. She worked for the Singapore Municipal Health Department at the Prinsep Street Infant Welfare Clinic, especially on promoting birth control awareness, addressing childhood infectious diseases,[8] and expanding maternal and child clinic access.[9]

Lim was honorary medical officer of the Singapore Family Planning Association when it began in 1949. In early 1951, she was briefly detained with others, by the government, on charges of spreading Malayan Communist Party propaganda.[10] [11] In 1963, she became head of the maternal and child welfare department in the Ministry of Health.[12] She was president of the Family Planning and Population Board, and an advisor to the Midwives' Council.[13] She served on the Singapore Hospitals Board,[14] and was an officer of the Singapore Paediatric Society.[15]

Later in her career, Lim was a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Hawai'i's East–West Center.[16] While in Hawai'i, she served as vice president of Hawaii Planned Parenthood.[17]

Lim was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians of London.

Personal life

Maggie Tan married another Queen's Scholar, political activist Lim Hong Bee.[18] They had two daughters; Patricia Lin, a television presenter in Singapore and later a professor in California, and Gillian Lin, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London who performed internationally as a concert pianist and recording artist for RCA. Lim died in Claremont, California. She was posthumously inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.

Singaporean playwright Stella Kon is Maggie Lim's grand-niece.

Tribute

On 14 March 2022, Google celebrated Dr Maggie Lim with a doodle.[19]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 高山仰止: 50位土生社群先驱的非凡人生 . National Heritage Board . Peranakan Museum . 13 March 2022 . zh-sg.
  2. News: 29 January 1937. Death: Tan. 2. Morning Tribune. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  3. News: 30 January 1937. Father of Two Queen's Scholars. 13. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  4. News: 29 July 1929. A Brilliant Scholar. 8. Malaya Tribune. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  5. Web site: Lee. June. 2013-08-15. Rooted in Service: Legacies of a Family of Old Rafflesians. 2020-11-08. Rafflesian Times. en.
  6. News: 24 January 1931. Miss Maggie Tan, Queen's Scholar. 12. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  7. News: 19 May 1940. Maggie Tan Back from England Now a Doctor. 11. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  8. News: 23 July 1952. Diphtheria Cases. 5. The Singapore Free Press. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  9. Web site: Crying Need For Family Planning. The Straits Times. 23 February 1949. 4. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  10. News: 9 February 1951. Freed Doctor Back at Work. 4. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  11. News: 6 February 1951. Dr. Maggie Lim, 6 Others Freed -- on Conditions. 7. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020.
  12. News: Dr. Maggie Lim. 4. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. 19 May 1962. NewspaperSG.
  13. Web site: Maggie Lim. 2020-11-08. Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. en-GB.
  14. News: Hospitals Board Members. 5. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. 10 April 1954. NewspaperSG.
  15. News: 6 March 1958. Society Officers. 4. The Straits Times. November 8, 2020. NewspaperSG.
  16. News: Hunter. Pat. 1973-05-03. Birth-Control Incentives Used in Asia. 36. The Honolulu Advertiser. 2020-11-08. Newspapers.com.
  17. News: 1972-11-23. Group Elects New Officers. 42. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 2020-11-08. Newspapers.com.
  18. Book: Lim, Hong Bee.. Born into war : autobiography of a barefoot colonial boy who grew up to face the challenge of the modern world. 1994. Excalibur Press. 1-85634-323-5. London. 243477735.
  19. Web site: Desk . OV Digital . 2023-01-04 . 5 January: Remembering Dr Maggie Lim on Birthday . 2023-03-13 . Observer Voice . en-US.