Sylvia Lim

MP for Aljunied GRC, Serangoon Division

Background:

In 1991, Sylvia joined the Singapore Police Force as a Police Inspector where she served for 3 years; she was active in investigation work (including supervision) at the Central Police Division HQ and thereafter was staff officer to the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

In 1994, she returned to practise law in the private sector, with M/s Lim & Lim. From 1994 to 1998, she was active in both civil and criminal litigation and handled a variety of cases in the High Court, Subordinate Courts and Juvenile Court.

In 1998 she joined Temasek Polytechnic as a law lecturer, and was concurrently Manager of Professional Development at the Polytechnic’s Business School. Her preferred areas of teaching and writing are in civil and criminal procedure, criminal justice and private security.

Sylvia became a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) after leading a Workers’ Party team to contest Aljunied GRC in the 2006 General Elections and securing 43.9% of the votes cast. In her capacity as NCMP since 2006, she has been active in Parliamentary debates and raised a variety of subjects including the increasing income divide, healthcare costs, over-population and good governance.

She has also given detailed suggestions towards the government reviews of the country’s Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, some of which have been adopted by the government.

She has also been serving as a Town Councillor for Hougang Town Council since 2005, and has been active on the ground in Aljunied GRC since 2002.

Sylvia is currently a Senior Associate at M/s Peter Low LLC, a local law firm.

Philosophy:

Sylvia came forward after the 2001 General Elections when two-thirds of parliamentary seats were uncontested and the ruling party won 75% of the contested votes. She was motivated by the need to ensure the continued existence of alternative parties so that the elections would be a meaningful exercise for the people. Since that time, her experiences convince her that political contests are the most sustainable way for the people to re-claim their power to determine the nation’s future.

Sylvia’s personal interests include running and music in various genres from classical to jazz. Since late 2009, she has started learning the Chinese martial art form, wing chun.