Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui (Chinese: 林志蔚; pinyin: Lín Zhìweì; born 1976)[1][3] is a Singaporean politician, economist and associate professor. A member of the Workers' Party (WP), Lim has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Anchorvale division of Sengkang GRC.

Jamus Lim
林志蔚
Lim in 2021
Member of Parliament
for Sengkang GRC
(Anchorvale)
Assumed office
10 July 2020
Preceded byConstituency established
Personal details
Born
Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui

1976 (age 47–48) [1]
Singapore
Political partyWorkers' Party
SpouseEneida Patricia Alcalde
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Southern Queensland (BBus)
London School of Economics (MS)
Harvard Extension School (ALM)[2]
University of California, Santa Cruz (MA, PhD)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • economist
  • associate professor
WebsitePersonal website

He has been Deputy Head of Policy Research since 2020 and President of the Youth Wing since 2024 of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC).[4][5]

Early life and career

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Lim attended Catholic High School, Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College as part of his early education in Singapore.[1] He was a service medic in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) during his National Service (NS).[1]

Lim graduated from the University of Southern Queensland in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business degree in economics.[1] He then obtained a Master of Science degree in economics from the London School of Economics in 2000, and went on to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he graduated in 2006 with a Master of Arts degree in politics and a PhD in international economics.[6] In 2018, Lim graduated from Harvard Extension School with a Master of Liberal Arts degree in history.[7][8][6][9]

Lim started his career at JP Morgan, before working at the World Bank for seven years, from 2007 to 2014, serving in its Development Prospects Group and specialising in long-term macroeconomic projections.[10] He was an economist at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.[9] In 2018, he joined the Singapore-based independent investment management firm Thirdrock.[11] Lim is an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School in Singapore.[12][13] On 23 July 2020, Lim was elected to the council of the Economic Society of Singapore (ESS).[14]

Political career

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Lim at a press conference in 2020.

Lim became a member of the Workers' Party (WP) in September 2019, having previously volunteered in the party's grassroots activities.[10]

On 30 June 2020, he was announced as part of a four-member WP team contesting in the newly-formed Sengkang GRC with team members, He Ting Ru, Louis Chua and Raeesah Khan in the 2020 general election.[15]

On 1 July 2020, Lim engaged in a televised political debate with Francis Yuen of the Progress Singapore Party, Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party and Minister Vivian Balakrishnan of the governing People's Action Party.[16][17] His performance at the debate was well-received,[18][19][20] with PN Balji of The New Paper writing that he was "smelling of roses"[21] and Toh Wen Li of The Straits Times describing Lim as the "star candidate" of the Workers' Party.[22]

On 10 July 2020, following the results of the 2020 general election, Lim and his team were elected into Parliament after securing 52.13% of the vote,[4][23] defeating the governing People's Action Party in an upset victory that secured a second group representation constituency for the opposition.[24][25]

On 3 September 2020, Lim gave his maiden speech in Parliament. He asserted that there was "insufficient compassion in our policymaking process" and proposed that Singapore could implement a "simple, across-the-board minimum wage".[26]

On 27 December 2020, Lim was elected as Deputy Head of the Policy Research Team of the WP's Central Executive Committee (CEC).[27]

On 11 July 2023, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin made a public apology to Lim after a clip of him using "unparliamentary language" during a 17 April parliamentary sitting was shared on Reddit; Tan had muttered "fucking populist" shortly after Lim's 20-minute speech on the establishment of an official poverty line. Lim accepted Tan's apology.[28]

Personal life

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In his younger days, Lim was a rugby player, drummer, and self-declared "Solitaire junkie".[12] Lim is married to Chilean-American writer Eneida Patricia Alcalde. They have a daughter who was born in 2019.[29]

Selected works and publications

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui". The Workers' Party of Singapore. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Jamus Lim - CV" (PDF). Jamus Lim. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Singapore GE2020: Profiles of Workers' Party's new candidates". The Straits Times. 26 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "ELD | 2020 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  5. ^ "MP | Parliament Of Singapore – Assoc Prof Dr Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui". www.parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui". Workers' Party. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  7. ^ Mokhtar, Faris; Koswanage, Niluksi (3 July 2020). "The People You Should Care About in Singapore's Election". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. ^ Tham, Yuen-C (30 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Consolidation rather than growth for opposition parties". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b Lee, Loraine (26 June 2020). "GE2020: WP introduces five more candidates, including a 27-year-old social activist". Today. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  10. ^ a b Lim, Kimberly Anne (18 March 2020). "WP's potential GE candidate is an RI, Harvard and LSE grad". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Investment Team". Thirdrock Group. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  12. ^ a b "ESSEC Business School | Jamus Lim – Associate Professor – ESSEC Business School". www.essec.edu. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  13. ^ Yuen, Sin; Toh, Wen Li (3 April 2020). "Singapore GE: PAP, WP line-ups for new Sengkang GRC appear to be taking shape". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  14. ^ Ng, Keng Gene (23 July 2020). "New MP Jamus Lim elected to Economic Society of Singapore's council". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. ^ Abu Baker, Jalelah (30 June 2020). "GE2020: PAP and WP to face off in new four-member Sengkang GRC". CNA. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  16. ^ Loh, Dylan (2 July 2020). "Singapore race gets heated over immigration and '10m population'". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  17. ^ Kurohi, Rei (2 July 2020). "Singapore GE2020: WP wants to deny PAP a blank cheque, says Jamus Lim". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  18. ^ Mendonca, Suman Priya (2 July 2020). "Singapore GE2020: WP's Jamus Lim Wins Hearts Post Debate; Fans Amazed by His Degrees, Vocabulary". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  19. ^ Awang, Nabilah (2 July 2020). "GE2020: PAP's Sengkang team outlines plans for GRC, including setting up of new town council". Today. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  20. ^ Sholihyn, Ilyas (2 July 2020). "WP's Jamus Lim and PAP's Vivian Balakrishnan win over the internet after their GE2020 debate performances". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  21. ^ Balji, PN (2 July 2020). "PN Balji: Jamus Lim smelling like roses after GE2020 live debate". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  22. ^ Toh, Wen Li (2 July 2020). "Singapore GE2020: PAP's Sengkang GRC team promises new town council, more amenities". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  23. ^ "GE2020: Workers' Party wins new Sengkang GRC with 52.13% of votes". CNA. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  24. ^ "GE2020: Workers' Party claims Sengkang GRC in upset win". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  25. ^ "GE2020: WP scores stunning win in Sengkang, 2nd GRC ever to be won by opposition". sg.news.yahoo.com. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  26. ^ Kurohi, Rei (3 September 2020). "Parliament: WP's Jamus Lim quizzed by PAP MPs on minimum wage and 'compassionate policymaking'". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  27. ^ "WP elects Sengkang GRC MPs to its CEC, party leaders Pritam Singh and Sylvia Lim retain posts". The Straits Times. 27 December 2020.
  28. ^ Lee, Amanda (5 September 2023). "Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin apologises to Jamus Lim for 'unparliamentary language' caught on hot mic". The Straits Times.
  29. ^ Tan, Claudia (19 June 2023). "4-year-old asks Jamus Lim to marry her mother who 'really likes' him – here's how he responded". AsiaOne.
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Parliament of Singapore
Preceded byas MP for Sengkang West SMC Member of Parliament
for Sengkang GRC
(Anchorvale)

2020 – present
Incumbent