Lim Biow Chuan

{{Short description|Singaporean politician and lawyer (born 1963)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Lim Biow Chuan

| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|林谋泉}}}}

| honorific-suffix =

| image = File:Lim Biow Chuan.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Official portrait, 2021

| office1 = Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore

| alongside1 = Charles Chong

| term_start1 = 25 January 2016

| term_end1 = 23 June 2020

| 1blankname1 = Speaker

| 1namedata1 = Halimah Yacob
Tan Chuan-Jin

| predecessor1 = Seah Kian Peng

| successor1 = Jessica Tan
Christopher de Souza

| constituency_MP2 = Mountbatten SMC

| term_start2 = 7 May 2011

| term_end2 = 15 April 2025

| predecessor2 = Constituency established

| successor2 = Gho Sze Kee

| majority2 = 10,479 (47.68%)

| constituency_MP3 = Marine Parade GRC

| term_start3 = 6 May 2006

| term_end3 = 7 May 2011

| predecessor3 = PAP held

| successor3 = PAP held

| religion =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|05|22|df=y}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.gov.sg/mps/list-of-current-mps/mp/details/lim-biow-chuan|title = MP | Parliament of Singapore}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.gov.sg/mp/lim-biow-chuan?viewcv=Lim%20Biow%20Chuan|title=Parliament of Singapore : MP Lim Biow Chuan's CV|access-date=7 August 2024|website=Parliament of Singapore |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214045658/http://www.parliament.gov.sg/mp/lim-biow-chuan?viewcv=Lim%20Biow%20Chuan|archive-date=14 December 2014}}

| birth_place = Colony of Singapore

| party = People's Action Party

| alma_mater = National University of Singapore (LLB)

}}

Lim Biow Chuan ({{lang-zh|s=林谋泉|p=Lín Móuquán}}; born 22 May 1963) is a Singaporean lawyer and former politician who served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2016 and 2020. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Mountbatten Single Member Constituency (SMC) from 2011 to 2025, having previously represented the Mountbatten division of Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 2006 and 2011. Lim was appointed as Marine Parade Town Council (MPTC) Chairman since 2015.

Education

Lim studied at Victoria School and Temasek Junior College before he went on to the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Law, where he completed a Bachelor of Laws.{{Cite web |title=VS145 Speech Day |url=https://www.victoria.moe.edu.sg/files/VS145-Speech-Day-e-Booklet.pdf |work=Victoria School |language=en}} When he was in university, he was a classmate of Sylvia Lim, who later became a MP for the opposition Workers' Party (WP).{{Cite web|last=Lim|first=Biow Chuan|date=28 July 2020|title=Met Sylvia Lim at the Istana during the swearing in ceremony for Cabinet Ministers...|url=https://www.facebook.com/limbiowchuan/posts/3478673595485200|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921071626/https://www.facebook.com/limbiowchuan/posts/3478673595485200|archive-date=21 September 2020|access-date=2020-07-30|website=Facebook|language=en}}

Career

Lim served as the president of the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) from 2012 to 2021, and was the only politician to serve on the central committee of a non-governmental organisation (NGO).{{cite news |date=23 Jun 2012 |title=Lim Biow Chuan elected President of CASE |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lim-biow-chuan-elected-president-of-case-8455452 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809002353/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lim-biow-chuan-elected-president-of-case-8455452 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |access-date=7 August 2017 |publisher=Channel NewsAsia}}{{cite web |title=CASE Central Committee (2015 - 2018) |url=https://www.case.org.sg/structure.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807193407/https://www.case.org.sg/structure.aspx |archive-date=7 August 2017 |access-date=7 August 2017 |website=CASE}} He was succeeded by Melvin Yong.

In 2013, Lim was appointed as a member of Singapore's Data Protection Advisory Committee.{{Cite web |date=2015-01-28 |title=6 new members appointed to Data Protection Advisory Committee |url=https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/6-new-members-appointed-data-protection-advisory-committee |access-date=2021-07-02 |website=AsiaOne |language=en}}

= Legal career =

Lim has been a practising lawyer since 1989. He is a senior partner in Derrick Wong & Lim BC LLP and has been appointed as a Notary Public and Commissioner for Oaths.{{Cite web|last=Lim|first=Biow Chuan|title=CV Lim Biow Chuan (May 2016)|url=https://www.parliament.gov.sg/docs/default-source/CV/cv---lim-biow-chuan-(may-2016).pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717165211/https://www.parliament.gov.sg/docs/default-source/CV/cv---lim-biow-chuan-(may-2016).pdf|archive-date=17 July 2020|access-date=2020-07-30}}

=Political career=

Lim entered politics during the 2006 general elections when he joined the People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting in Marine Parade GRC. The PAP team won the contest with a walkover and Lim served the Mountbatten ward.

In 2011, Mountbatten SMC was created from the ward. Lim, being the incumbent MP for the ward, contested the SMC and won.{{Cite news |last=Loi |first=Esther |last2=Ng |first2=Keng Gene |date=2025-04-20 |title=GE2025: PAP’s Gho Sze Kee to contest Mountbatten; 4-term MP Lim Biow Chuan to step down |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/ge2025-paps-gho-sze-kee-to-contest-mountbatten-4-term-mp-lim-biow-chuan-to-retire |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}

On 25 January 2016, Lim was elected Deputy Speaker of Parliament along with Charles Chong.{{cite news | url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/charles-chong-lim-biow-chuan-elected-deputy-speakers | title=Charles Chong, Lim Biow Chuan elected as Deputy Speakers | access-date=31 August 2020 | archive-date=27 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127115802/http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/charles-chong-lim-biow-chuan-elected-deputy-speakers | url-status=live }} He stepped down from that role after the 2020 general election.

During the 2025 general election, it was announced that Lim would step down from politics.

Incident

In 2010, the press reported that Lim showed support for film director Jack Neo over his controversial extramarital affair, saying, "Since he is remorseful over this incident, he should be forgiven. Actually, a man who has a good career development, like himself, would find such scenarios unavoidable".{{cite web|title=Backseat frolics backfire |url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/13/focus/5846684&sec=focus |work=The Star|date=13 Mar 2010 |access-date=13 Apr 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316040952/http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F3%2F13%2Ffocus%2F5846684&sec=focus |archive-date=2010-03-16 }} Lim later stated that he had been misquoted by the press.

Personal life

Lim is married and has two daughters. He has been serving as a church leader since 1993.{{Cite web|last=Lim|first=Biow Chuan|title=Lim Biow Chuan - About|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Politician/limbiowchuan/about/|access-date=2020-07-30|website=Facebook|language=en}}