Remembering Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim Leong Seng

KUALA LUMPUR (Herald Malaysia): Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim Leong Seng, KMN, JMN, PSM who served for 26 years in the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocesan Finance Department, passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 26. He was 101.

He will be remembered for his integrity, generosity, commitment to work culture and initiatives in raising funds for charity, welfare, education and community work.

A loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim suffered enormous losses in his personal life with the death of his second son, Francis, more than 10 years ago; the death of his grandson Geordie Lim and his wife Puan Sri Rosa Chou in 2013. He now leaves behind two sons, a daughter, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren to mourn his loss.

The wake for Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim was held from Oct 27 to Oct 29 at 39A, Jalan Balau, Damansara Heights Kuala Lumpur.

The funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday, October 30 at 10.00am at the Church of the Holy Rosary. He was buried at the Cheras Christian Cemetery, Jalan Kuari.

His Grace, Most Reverend Julian Leow, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and the clergy of the Archdiocese, extend their condolences to the family of Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim Leong Seng in this time of loss and assures them of their fraternal prayers and support.

A great and humble man

Like many accountants in the profession, Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim’s excellence in Mathematics during his school days was a precursor to him taking on accounting as a career. He had started off in his first job as a teacher at St Michael’s School in Alor Setar, Kedah in 1934 and 1935 after he completed his Senior Cambridge Examinations, but with a salary of just $30.00 a month, he decided, in the following year, to return to his hometown in Penang in 1936. He enrolled in the newly-established government commercial day school where he learned accounts, typewriting and shorthand.

Honing new skills to equip himself for an accounting career, sitting for his professional examinations during World War II and working as an accountant during the Japanese occupation, his passion for the profession grew out of his natural ability to provide sound advice and problem-solving. He had indeed helped many a client with these skills over the decades.

He saw the introduction of income tax in Malaya in 1948. The following year, he joined the Income Tax Department as an Examiner. In 1967, he was appointed as the first Malaysian Comptroller General for what is now known as the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and held this position till September 1971 when he reached the compulsory retirement age of 55. It was a significant appointment because, up to that point, the post of Comptroller General was held by expatriate Income Tax officers from Great Britain or Australia.

With his wealth of experience and knowledge in tax, the then Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin created the post of Tax Advisor to the Treasury in 1971 to retain his expertise in Income Tax.

In 1974, he was invited to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Tax Administration Advisor to the Ministry of Finance in the then Hindu Kingdom of Nepal. There, he cheated death when the motor vehicle he was travelling in was involved in an accident which took the life of his Nepali colleague who was seated between him and the driver. Tan Sri Lim himself ended up with a broken collarbone, which was a reminder to him of God’s providence on his life.

After completing his stint with the IMF, he returned to Kuala Lumpur and was appointed as Special Commissioner of Income Tax till he retired from civil service in 1979 at the age of 63. That same year, he joined the private sector, taking up the role of Tax Consultant at Price Waterhouse. From 1982 to 1992, he was with Price Waterhouse Tax Services as an Executive Director and then Tax Advisor.

It was in 1990 that Tan Sri Lim took up the position of Financial Administrator for the Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. He was also very active in social work where he contributed considerable time and expertise to the Holy Rosary Church, Assunta Hospital, the Association for the Promotion of Higher Education in Malaysia and Hospis Malaysia. He was also one of the founding members of Sekolah Menengah Stella Maris’s board of governors.

Tan Sri Lim was conferred the Kesatria Mangku Negara (KMN) in 1963, Johan Mangku Negara (JMN) in 1968 and Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) which carries the title ‘Tan Sri’ in 1970. The conferment of these honours is testament to his outstanding service and contribution to the nation.

The grandfather that I love, my Kong Kong

“Knight commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great, the first Malaysian-born Comptroller General of the Inland Revenue Board, Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim Leong Seng.” said Sebastian Aw Ing-Zer, Tan Sri Sir Lim Leong Seng’s grandson, during the eulogy.

“By my metric, my grandfather was a great man. We all have some tales and anecdotes of his many triumphs and achievements, and the titles and accolades he won through them. As a child growing up, those tales sounded almost mythic.”

“Great people naturally build myths and legend through their deeds. It is thus tempting to eulogise my grandfather in similar ways, recounting his achievements, his tenacity, his strength of character that seemed at times otherworldly, as if, if we looked hard enough, we could glance at something beyond.

“It is tempting to do this, but I hope not to speak of greatness today. When we speak of great people, our myths and legends sing of grandeur, and in doing so, risk drowning out the small, quiet moments that form the bedrock of human life. By speaking only of their greatness, we risk robbing our loved ones of the humanity of their lives.

“Thus today, I don’t want to eulogise Tan Sri Sir Peter Lim Leong Seng. I want to eulogise the grandfather I love, my Kong Kong.

“I want to remember the man who would be waiting at the door to greet me when I came back from primary school, and then drove me to the newsagent to buy comics and toys.

“I want to remember the man who, upon hearing a passing remark that I liked dragon fruit, would then enthusiastically buy dragon fruits for me nearly every day for half a year.

“I want to remember the man who so loved his wife that he would pray with her every single day. I used to drive them to church every Saturday and Sunday as he drove like an F1 driver, who somehow got his licence renewed to 2021.

“I want to remember the man who, despite his amazing health, hated and feared growing old. Who stubbornly resisted getting a walking cane, a hearing aid, until he could barely hear me when I called on the phone.

“I want to remember the man so filled with love that he would do anything for his family and friends, whose love touched us all throughout his life and, in doing so, we are here today to celebrate his life.

“That’s the man I want to remember. Not just the man who accomplished so much that his five foot frame cast a much longer shadow, but the man who laughed and cried and hoped and feared. I want to remember and celebrate my grandfather; a great man, but also so much more.”

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online