M'SIAN LAWYER IN AUSTRALIA HONOURS FOR COMMUNITY WORK

MELBOURNE: When Malaysian lawyer Lim Chuen Ren arrived here in 1988, he was surprised to see that the Asian community, especially the Chinese, had bare financial resources and Asian produce was expensive.

• "Australia was in recession and the issue of Asian immigration raised its head," said Lim, 61, who has a successful law firm in the central business district, here.
• "It was also when John Howard (later to become prime minister) waded into the debate against Asian immigration. And you got the usual 'Asian go home' graffiti and other insults," he told Bernama.
• Compelled to tackle the problem, Perak-born Lim helped to establish the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Victoria, and became its founding secretary.
• He then ran the Chinese Entrepreneurs Programme aimed at promoting the growth and business acumen of new Chinese businesses by matching them with experienced entrepreneurs, while at the same time providing mentoring and leadership.
• "Those days, we had to speak up for the Asian community and help (members of) the Asian community, who were usually not conversant in English, deal with these issues," he said.
• "We organised meetings with the government, and the Australian authorities were very keen to resolve and assist the community."
• Lim has also been active in promoting trade between Malaysia and Australia through the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida).
• In June this year, Queen Elizabeth of Britain honoured Lim with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to business, and to the Chinese community of Victoria.

Lim, who studied at St Anthony's School in Teluk Intan and, later, law at the University of Singapore, was one of the earliest lawyers to promote mediation to the Bar Council of Malaysia.
"I introduced mediation to Catherine Eu, who was then the chief executive of the Bar Council of Malaysia," he said.
Lim continues to provide community mediation.

Source: Bernama