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Maggie Lim

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Maggie Lim
A young smiling Asian woman, wearing round glasses. Her dark hair is cut to jaw length.
Maggie Lim, then Maggie Tan, from a 1936 Singapore newspaper.
Born
Maggie Tan

5 January 1913
Singapore
DiedNovember 1995 (aged 82)
Claremont, California
Occupation(s)Physician, public health official, college professor
SpouseLim Hong Bee
FatherTan Kwee Swee
Relatives

Maggie Lim ( 5 January 1913 – November 1995, Chinese: 林陈美仪[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

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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

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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.[13]

Personal life

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Maggie Tan married another Queen's Scholar, political activist Lim Hong Bee.[5][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.[13]

Singaporean playwright Stella Kon is Maggie Lim's grand-niece.[5]

Tribute

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

References

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