Southeast Asia (PDF)

Born in the British Straits Settlement of Malacca in 1932, Lim Chong Yah was awarded a Malacca Settlement Scholarship to study Economics at the University of Malaya, then located in Singapore. Later, he won a British Commonwealth Scholarship to read Economics at the University of Oxford, where he obtained his doctorate. He taught Economics at the University of Malaya (in Kuala Lumpur), where he became the first Head of the Division of Applied Economics. Subsequently he was Reader and later Professor and Senior Professor of Economics at the University of Singapore (later renamed the National University of Singapore), where he was also Head of the Department. He is currently Professor of Economics at the Nanyang Technological University and Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore. For his eminent scholarship and outstanding public service, Prof Lim has received many distinguished awards, including The Distinguished Service Award by the National Trades Union Congress in 1999 and The Distinguished Service Order (Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang) by the Singapore Government in 2000. There is also a professorship under his name, established by the National University of Singapore. He was conferred the Doctor Honoris Causa by Soka University in Japan, awarded an Honorary Professorship by Hainan University, and appointed Honorary Chairman of the Hainan University Council by the Provincial Government of Hainan. Indiana University conferred on him the John W Ryan Alumni Award for “Distinguished Contribution to International Education”.