The term Penal Laws in Ireland (Irish: Na Péindlíthe) were a series of laws imposed in an attempt to force Irish Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters (such as Presbyterians) to accept the reformed Christian faith as defined by the English state established Anglican Church and practised ^[1]) by members of the Irish state established Church of Ireland.^[2]

Stuart and Cromwellian rule[link]

The Penal Laws were, according to Edmund Burke “a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man.” ^[3]

Initially, the dual monarchs of England and Ireland were cautious about applying the Penal Laws to Ireland because they needed the support of the Roman Catholic upper classes to put down the Gaelic Irish rebellion in the Nine Years War (1594–1603). In addition, a significant section of the Roman Catholic aristocracy was Old English who had traditionally been loyal to English rule in Ireland. However, the ascent of James VI of Scotland to to both the English and Irish thrones as James I in 1603 and the eventual victory in the Nine Years War saw a series of coerceive new laws put into force. In 1605 the 'Gunpowder Plot' was planned by a a group of English Catholics, who considered James I to be a heretic. This provided a further impetus and justification for restrictive laws on Catholics in Ireland, Scotland and England. In 1607 the Flight of the Earls seeking Catholic help in Europe for a further revolt set the scene for a wholesale Plantation of Ulster by the Scots and English.

From 1607, Catholics were barred from holding public office or serving in the army. This meant that the Irish Privy Council and the Lords Justice who, along with the Lord Deputy of Ireland, constituted the government of the country, would in future be Anglicans. In 1613, the constituencies of the Irish House of Commons were altered to give plantation settlers a majority. In addition, Roman Catholics in all three Kingdoms had to pay 'recusant fines' for non-attendance at Anglican services. Roman Catholic churches were transferred to the Anglican Church of Ireland. Roman Catholic services, however, were generally tacitly tolerated as long as they were conducted in private. Roman Catholic priests were also tolerated, but bishops who, since Catholic education was not permitted, were usually trained in mainland Europe, were forced to operate clandestinely. In 1634 the issue of the "Graces" arose; generous taxation for Charles I (whose Queen Henrietta Maria was Catholic) was voted by Irish Catholic landlords on the understanding the laws would be reformed, but once the tax was voted Charles' viceroy refused two of the 51 Graces, and subsequent bills were blocked by the Catholic majority in the Irish House of Lords.

Catholic resentment was a factor in starting the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the establishment of Confederate Ireland from 1642 with Papal support, that was eventually put down in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649–53. After the Act of Settlement in 1652, Catholics were barred from membership in the Irish Parliament, and the major landholders had most of their lands confiscated under the Adventurers Act. They were banned from living in towns for a short period. To the Cromwellians, all Catholics were, in turn, heretics. Catholic clergy were expelled from the country and were liable to instant execution when found. Many recusants had to worship in secret at gathering places (such as Mass rocks) in the countryside. Seventeen Catholic martyrs from this period were beatified in 1992.

1660–1693[link]

Much of this legislation was rescinded after the English Restoration by Charles II (1660–1685), under the "Declaration of Breda" in 1660, in terms of worship and property-owning, but also the first Test Act became law from 1673. Louis XIV of France increased Protestant paranoia in Europe when he expelled the Huguenots from France in 1685. Following the flight from England to Ireland by James II caused by the English "Glorious Revolution" in 1688, the decisions of the Catholic-majority Patriot Parliament of 1688–9 in Dublin included a complete repeal of the 1650s land settlements.^[4] These were reversed after the largely Roman Catholic Jacobites that sided with King James then lost the Williamite war in Ireland in 1689–91. His opponents William and Mary were grandchildren of King Charles I, and so the war ultimately decided whether Catholic or Protestant Stuarts would reign.

The war ended with the Treaty of Limerick agreed by Sarsfield and Ginkel in October 1691.[1] This provided in article 1 that:

The Roman Catholics of this kingdom shall enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion as are consistent with the laws of Ireland, or as they did enjoy in the reign of king Charles the second: and their majesties, as soon as their affairs will permit them to summon a parliament in this kingdom, will endeavour to procure the said Roman Catholics such farther security in that particular, as may preserve them from any disturbance upon the account of their said religion.

The quid pro quo to attain these privileges involved swearing an oath of loyalty to William and Mary. Many Catholics found repugnant when the Papacy started to support the Jacobites in 1693. A small number of Catholic landlords had sworn this loyalty oath in 1691–3 and their families remained protected. Previous Jacobite garrison surrenders, particularly the agreement at Galway earlier in 1691, specifically provided that the Catholic gentry of counties Galway and Mayo were protected from the property restrictions, though they would be excluded from direct involvement in politics.

Articles 2 and 9 required that:

2. .... provided also, that no person whatsoever shall have or enjoy the benefit of this article, that shall neglect or refuse to take the oath of allegiance, made by act of parliament in England, in the first year of the reign of their present majesties, when thereunto required.

9. The oath to be administered to such Roman Catholics as submit to their majesties' government, shall be the oath abovesaid and no other.

At the European level, this war was a part of the War of the Grand Alliance, in which the Papacy supported William III's alliance against France, and on the news of the Battle of the Boyne a Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving at the Vatican. But from 1693 the Papacy changed its policy and supported James against William, and William's policy also moved from a degree of toleration for Roman Catholics to greater hostility. By then, King James was based in France at Saint Germain, and was supported politically and financially by Louis XIV, the long-standing enemy of William and Mary. Religion eventually became an issue in defining a notable family's loyalty to the crown.

As well as the Papal Te Deum, it was revealed in 2008 that Pope Innocent XI had loaned William of Orange 150,000 Scudi through his family's bank before his death in 1689; an embarrassing detail hidden from Irish Catholics and Protestants for over three centuries.^[5][6]

Ascendancy rule 1691–1778[link]

With the defeat of Catholic attempts to regain power and lands in Ireland, a ruling class which became known later as the "Protestant Ascendancy" sought to ensure dominance with the passing of a number of laws to restrict the religious, political and economic activities of Catholics and Dissenters. Harsher laws were introduced for political reasons during the long War of the Spanish Succession that ended in 1714. The son of James II, the "Old Pretender", was recognised by the Holy See as the legitimate king of Britain and Ireland until his death in 1766, and Catholics were obliged to support him. He also approved the appointments of all the Irish Catholic hierarchy, who were drawn from his most fervent supporters. These aspects provided the political excuses for the new laws passed for several decades after 1695. Interdicts faced by Catholics and Dissenters under the Penal Laws were:

• Exclusion of Catholics from most public offices (since 1607), Presbyterians were also barred from public office from 1707.
• Ban on intermarriage with Protestants; repealed 1778
• Presbyterian marriages were not legally recognised by the state
• Catholics barred from holding firearms or serving in the armed forces (rescinded by Militia Act of 1793)
• Bar from membership in either the Parliament of Ireland or the Parliament of Great Britain from 1652; rescinded 1662–1691; renewed 1691–1829.
• Disenfranchising Act 1728, exclusion from voting until 1793;
• Exclusion from the legal professions and the judiciary; repealed (respectively) 1793 and 1829.
• Education Act 1695 – ban on foreign education; repealed 1782.
• Bar to Catholics entering Trinity College Dublin; repealed 1793.
• On a death by a Catholic, his legatee could benefit by conversion to the Church of Ireland;
• Popery Act – Catholic inheritances of land were to be equally subdivided between all an owner's sons with the exception that if the eldest son and heir converted to Protestantism that he would become the one and only tenant of estate and portions for other children not to exceed one third of the estate. This "Gavelkind" system had previously been abolished by 1600.
• Ban on converting from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism on pain of Praemunire: forfeiting all property estates and legacy to the monarch of the time and remaining in prison at the monarch's pleasure. In addition, forfeiting the monarch's protection. No injury however atrocious could have any action brought against it or any reparation for such.
• Ban on Catholics buying land under a lease of more than 31 years; repealed 1778.
• Ban on custody of orphans being granted to Catholics on pain of 500 pounds that was to be donated to the Blue Coat hospital in Dublin.
• Ban on Catholics inheriting Protestant land
• Prohibition on Catholics owning a horse valued at over £5 (in order to keep horses suitable for military activity out of the majority's hands)
• Roman Catholic lay priests had to register to preach under the Registration Act 1704, but seminary priests and Bishops were not able to do so until 1778
• When allowed, new Catholic churches were to be built from wood, not stone, and away from main roads.
• 'No person of the popish religion shall publicly or in private houses teach school, or instruct youth in learning within this realm' upon pain of twenty pounds fine and three months in prison for every such offence. Repealed in 1782. [2]
• Any and all rewards not paid by the crown for alerting authorities of offences to be levied upon the Catholic populace within parish and county.

Historians disagree on how rigorously these laws were enforced. The consensus view is that enforcement depended on the attitudes of local magistrates bringing or hearing particular cases; some of whom were rigorous, others more liberal.

The Catholic Committees[link]

From 1758, before the death of James III, ad-hoc groups of the remaining Catholic nobility and merchants worked towards repeal of the penal laws and an accommodation within the Hanoverian system. These were based locally on county lines. An earlier attempt in 1727 had met with strong opposition from the Jacobite movement, which resisted any negotiations with the Hanoverians, being usurpers.^[7] By 1760 eminent Catholics such as Lord Trimlestown, Lord Kenmare and Charles O'Conor of Belanagare persuaded the more liberal Protestants that they presented no political threat, and that reforms must follow.

Events abroad in the 1760s, such as the outcome of the Seven Years war, the death of the Old Pretender (1766), the emerging "Age of Enlightenment", and the Suppression of the Society of Jesus by Europe's Catholic monarchs, all seemed to confirm their position. The Irish Catholic hierarchy in the 18th century was inspired by the semi-independent Gallican Church, and was less dogmatic than the Ultramontanist church that would develop in the 19th century.

Gradual reform and emancipation 1778–1869[link]

On the death of the "Old Pretender" in January 1766 the Holy See recognised the Hanoverian dynasty as legitimate, and so the main political excuse for the laws was removed and the slow process of Catholic Emancipation began, with the repeal of some of the Penal Laws by the Catholic Relief Acts of 1771, 1778 and 1793.^[8] However, the long drawn-out pace of reform ensured that the question of religious discrimination dominated Irish life and was a constant source of division. In a show of goodwill, John Carpenter, titular Archbishop of Dublin, technically still an illegal position, was invited to join the Royal Dublin Society in 1773.^[9]

An Irish Act of 1774 allowed any subject of George III "of whatever persuasion to testify their allegiance to him".^[10] The Quebec Act of 1774 was an encouragement outside Ireland, with the London parliament restoring religious rights in the main part of Canada, followed in Britain and Ireland by the Catholic Relief Act 1778. Carlow College was established in 1782.

From 1782 reformist Irish Protestant politicians like Henry Grattan, JP Curran, William Ponsonby and Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol (a Protestant bishop), added their voices in support. In the English House of Commons Edmund Burke also helped, but was faced with anti-Catholic sentiment which exploded in the Gordon Riots of 1780.

In 1792 William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, the eldest brother of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, founded the 'Association of the friends of liberty' whose program sought Catholic members in the Irish House of Commons. They could not persuade most Protestant MPs to effect a bigger change than the Relief Act of 1793, where Catholics were now allowed to buy freehold land, to become grand jurors and barristers, to study at Trinity College Dublin, and to vote if they held property with a rental value of at least £2 a year (the so-called "Forty-shilling freeholders"). A majority of Irish MPs were still reluctant to reform, and the Irish 1793 Act had to be encouraged by the British government that had already passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791.

Opposition to Catholic Relief ensured that when relief was granted it was often accompanied by what were seen to be unpleasant concessions to the system. Relief in 1793 was accompanied by a widely unpopular Militia Act which removed the ban on Catholics holding firearms to allow for their conscription into the militia, but not their admittance into the officer ranks. However, wealthier Catholics did not oppose this as it was further proof of their gradual inclusion into the establishment.

France declared war on Britain and Ireland in February 1793 and the war took priority over further reliefs. As the French government opposed the Holy See from 1790, and as Irish Catholic priests were often trained in France, the Prime Minister Pitt funded the establishment of St. Patrick's seminary in Maynooth in 1795. The French republican policies of "Dechristianization" in 1790–1801 were often similar to Cromwell's anti-Catholic policies in Ireland in the 1650s. In 1795 the new viceroy the earl of Fitzwilliam proposed full political emancipation as suggested by Grattan, but he was removed within weeks by the hardliners in the Irish administration.

The slow pace of reform was a factor which led to many reformers despairing of peaceful change, particularly the lack of tithe reform, and this led on in part to the failed 1798 rebellion. During the rebellion all the Irish Catholic bishops supported the government. The subsequent passing of the Act of Union of 1801 was supposed to bring Catholic Emancipation, as power was moved from the hands of the Protestant Ascendancy to the London Parliament. This was agreed by most of the British Cabinet, including William Pitt, and they resigned when it was not effected. The personal opposition of George III ensured that no change would be forthcoming during his reign.

Emancipation[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The political argument for emancipation to allow Catholic MPs to sit in parliament continued after the 1801 Act of Union, supported by liberal MPs such as Henry Grattan. Division arose over the "veto", the issue whether the government could, or could not, veto the appointment of a bishop where he was approved by the Pope. In May 1823, Daniel O'Connell launched the Catholic Association and campaigned for Catholic emancipation which was largely achieved in 1829, primarily benefitting the middle classes. While this was seen as a late and overdue reform by Irish Catholics, Irish Dissenters had only just achieved the same status following the 1828 Test Act, Irish Jewish MPs were barred until 1858 and atheists until 1886.

The Act also allowed for Catholic judges and senior civil servants and state officials to be appointed. As with the election of MPs, those who benefitted were the better educated and richer Catholics. The same class took advantage of the reform of town and city corporations in the Act of 1840 and took part in local government. But for the majority of Irish Catholics living in the countryside, the cost of the tithing system had always been the main cause of complaint.

Tithe reform[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The obligation by Catholics and other religious groups to pay tithes to the Protestant Church remained until its disestablishment by the Irish Church Act 1869 and Catholic Emancipation was quickly followed by a period of violent resistance known as the Tithe War. From 1840 tithes were no longer payable by tenants but by their landlords, who were allowed to increase rents to make up the difference. The Catholic Church became resurgent from the 1840s, uniting with the Protestant churches to oppose the integration of students of differing religion in the new primary or 'National' schools, and in the 1850s a debate arose over whether some proposed universities should be mixed or just for Catholics.

Continuing effect in 1920[link]

In May 1920 Seán T. O'Kelly sent a memorandum to Pope Benedict XV which included:

The position of Irish Catholics is a cruel one. We are enslaved by a Protestant power. The penal laws against our religion are not yet abolished in full. The injurious social and economic results of these anti-Catholic laws will not be overcome for generations. To the present day we suffer political injury inside and outside of Ireland, simply and solely because we are practicing Catholics. Sons of martyrs, we are known in every Masonic lodge and every anti-Catholic country as 'Papists', and par-excellence, the most devoted of all the children of the Holy See.^[11]

References[link]

Peneral (originally Peñeraal of a Spanish origin) is a town in south Trinidad. It lies south of San Fernando and Debe, and north of Siparia. Originally a rice and cocoa producing area, Penal has grown into an important town in the past few years and is now a desirable place for corporate expansion. The population is 12,281 people.^[1]

Penal is largely considered to be dominated by the East Indian descendants, more commonly referred to as Indians. The heart of Penal contains many businesses while the outskirts focus on agricultural development. Commercially, Penal has a police station, branches of two banks (Scotiabank and Republic Bank), health facilities, photo studios, fast food restaurants, a gas station and clothing stores as well as many schools, thus providing reasonably well for its populace.

Penal plays a major role in the energy supply to the nation's populace. Petrotrin, the national oil company, has a major sub-unit in Clarke Road and the National Gas Company has many gas lines running through Penal that links the gas fields of the South East Coast and the industrial estates. One of the countries three major power generating plants owned by Powergen Ltd is located at Syne Village to the west of Penal. This area is also known for the High Schools located in the Penal-Debe area. It is one of the areas in Trinidad that has the most schools. Penal is also known for the Doubles, Roti and Aloo-Pies which will always be packed with costumers for dilicious Cuisine. If you want culture Penal is one of the places to be.

Penal is administered by the Penal-Debe Regional Corporation.

References[link]

Coordinates: 10°10′N 61°28′W / 10.167°N 61.467°W / 10.167; -61.467

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Sam Rainsy
Leader of the Opposition of Cambodia Leader of the Sam Rainsy Party
Personal details
Born	(1949-03-10) 10 March 1949 (age 63) Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Political party	Sam Rainsy Party (1998-present) Khmer National Party (1995-1998) FUNCINPEC (1981-1994)
Spouse(s)	Tioulong Saumura
Children	Patrice Sam, Muriel Sam and Rachel Sam
Profession	Politician
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.

Sam Rainsy (Khmer: សម រង្ស៊ី IPA: [sɑːm reə̯̆ŋsiː]; born March 10, 1949) is a Cambodian politician.

Sam Rainsy was born in Phnom Penh in 1949. His father, Sam Sary was assassinated in 1959 when Sam Rainsy was ten, while his mother was thrown into prison. He moved to France in 1965, studied there and then worked as an investment manager and executive director in a variety of Parisian financial companies.^[1] He became a member of the Cambodian Funcinpec Party, and after returning to Cambodia in 1992 was elected a member of parliament for Siem Reap Province the following year. He became Minister of Finance, but was expelled from the party after losing a vote of no-confidence in 1994. In 1995, he founded the Khmer Nation Party (KNP), which changed its name before the 1998 elections to the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) to avoid registration issues. [1] Sam was elected a member of parliament for Kompong Cham province in those elections, and the party polled 14% of the vote. In the 2003 elections, it polled 22% of the vote.

Sam went into self-exile on 3 February 2005, citing fear of arrest after a vote in the National Assembly removed parliamentary immunity from himself and fellow SRP MPs Chea Poch and Cheam Channy^[2] On that same day, Parliamentarian Cheam Channy was arrested, and detained in the Cambodian Military Prison. Sam faced multiple criminal defamation charges after accusing the Cambodian People's Party and Funcinpec of corruption in the formation of the current coalition government. He has also accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of involvement in the 22 January 2004 murder of SRP-affiliated union leader Chea Vichea.

At that time, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said it was "deeply concerned" that the government appeared to be trying to "silence the opposition". Other embassies, local and international organizations shared the same concerns. Sam was tried in absentia on 22 December 2005 in relation to the defamation lawsuits. The court sentenced him to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay around US$14,000 in fines and compensation. On 5 February 2006, Rainsy received a Royal Pardon by King Norodom Sihamoni at Prime Minister Hun Sen's request. He then returned to Cambodia on 10 February 2006.

In 2009, Vietnam’s foreign ministry condemned Sam Rainsy’s actions and asked the government to protect the nations’ ongoing border demarcation process. The statement called Sam Rainsy’s act “perverse, undermining common assets, violating laws of Cambodia and Vietnam, treaties, agreements and deals between the two countries”.

In October 2009, Rainsy led local residents at the Cambodia-Vietnam border in a protest against alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian territory, in which he was alleged to have encouraged villagers to uproot border markings he claimed to have been illegally placed by Vietnam. On October 25, Rainsy was charged with racial incitement and destruction of property, and the Cambodian parliament stripped Rainsy of his immunity from prosecution in November. Rainsy was issued a summons to appear in court for a hearing. On January 1, 2010, the Svay Rieng provincial court issued an arrest warrant for Rainsy after he failed to appear in court. Rainsy is currently in Australia, and says that he will let the court try him In absentia, as the charges against him are politically motivated.^[3]

Family[link]

Sam Rainsy's father, Sam Sary had served as a minister in the Education, planning and finance portfolios before becoming a Deputy Prime Minister in Sihanouk's government in the 1950s. Sam Rainsy's grandfather, Sam Nhean had served as the President of the Royal Council of Canbodia and was a prominent member of the Democratic Party (Cambodia) in the 1940s.^[1] Sam Rainsy is married to Tioulong Samura, who is also member of parliament for his current party, and has three children: Patrice Sam, Muriel Sam and Rachel Sam. Tioulong Samura's father, Nhiek Tioulong was a military general who founded the Khmer Renovation party and briefly served as an Acting Prime Minister in 1962. Both Sam Rainsy and his wife claimed to having Chinese ancestry, the former having revealed that his great-great grandfather was a Chinese immigrant,^[4] while Nhiek Tioulong revealed that he had a Chinese grandfather during a dialogue session with Zhou Enlai in 1954.^[5]

University degrees[link]

• Business Administration (Master of Business Administration from INSEAD - Fontainebleau - France) - 1980.
• Accounting (Diplôme d'Etudes Comptables Supérieures issued by the French Ministry of Education) - 1979.
• Economics (Maîtrise + Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures de Sciences Economiques de la Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Economiques de Paris) - 1973.
• Political Science (Diplôme de l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris) - 1971.

Footnotes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Brown, MacAlister Brown; Zasloff, Joseph Jermiah; Cambodia Confounds the Peacemakers, 1979-1998, Cornell University Press, 1998, ISBN 0801435366

External links[link]

• Sam Rainsy Party homepage
• BBC profile of Rainsy
• BBC: "Cambodia opposition calls on king"
• BBC: "Sam Rainsy appeal on Cambodia"

Sylvia Lim Swee Lian
At a Workers' Party of Singapore rally at Bedok Stadium on 30 April 2011 for the Singaporean general election, 2011
Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2011
Preceded by	Lim Hwee Hua
Majority	12,333 (9.42%)
Member of Parliament for Non-Constituency
In office 6 May 2006 – 7 May 2011
Preceded by	Steve Chia
Succeeded by	Lina Chiam Yee Jenn Jong Gerald Giam
Personal details
Born	(1965-03-28) 28 March 1965 (age 47) Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	Workers' Party
Alma mater	National University of Singapore University College London
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer, Lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]

Sylvia Lim Swee Lian (simplified Chinese: 林瑞莲; traditional Chinese: 林瑞蓮; pinyin: Lín Ruì Lián; born 28 March 1965) is a politician, lawyer and academic from Singapore. She is currently the Chairman of the opposition Workers' Party and an elected Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Aljunied GRC. She is in charge of Serangoon division. ^[2]

Lim previously served in the Singapore Police Force, and taught as a law lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic. She is currently a senior associate in Peter Low LLC.

Personal profile[link]

Lim had her early education at CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel, CHIJ St Joseph's Convent and National Junior College. She then read Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree in 1988. She obtained a Master of Laws degree from the University of London (University College London) in 1989^[3], and was called to the Bar in Singapore in 1991.

During her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Lim did volunteer work with the Spastic Children's Association, Salvation Army Home for the Aged and University College Hospital. She later did voluntary editorial work for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme of the Law Society.

In 1991, Lim joined the Singapore Police Force for three years as a Police Inspector. She initially did investigation work at the Central Police Division Headquarters, and then became a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Lim joined the law firm M/s Lim & Lim in 1994. She handled both civil and criminal cases in the High Court, Subordinate Courts and Juvenile Court between 1994 and 1998.

Lim joined Temasek Polytechnic in 1998 as a lecturer on the Diploma in Law and Management course. She also became the Manager of Professional Development and Manager of Continuing Education and Training at the polytechnic's School of Business. Her main areas of teaching and research are in civil and criminal procedure, criminal justice and private security. During her time at Temasek Polytechnic, Lim has contributed to the volume on Criminal Procedure for Halsbury's Laws of Singapore (2003), a legal practitioners' reference series, and has also collected and published primary research on private security in Singapore.

In March 2006, Temasek Polytechnic modified its staffing policies to enable Lim to run as a candidate in the general election without having to resign her teaching position at the institution.

Political Career[link]

Lim joined the Workers' Party in 2001 and quickly rose to become the Chairman of the party in 2003.

At the 2006 general election, Lim was a member of the Workers' Party team which contested the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency. The Workers' Party team lost to the team from the governing People's Action Party (PAP) by 58,593 votes (43.9%) to 74,843 (56.1%).^[4] This was the highest percentage of the vote garnered by any losing opposition candidates in the election, and therefore meant that the Workers' Party was entitled to select one of its team members from Ajunied GRC to become a Non-constituency Member of Parliament. The party chose Lim to become its NCMP.^[5]

During her term in Parliament, Lim spoke out against ministers' salaries, and also against means testing in hospitals, which resulted in the PAP deferring a decision on this for a period of two years from 2006 to 2008. In addition, she also called for a reduction in the Goods and Services Tax, arguing that it was a regressive tax, and urged the government to do more to help retrenched workers.

In the 2011 general election, Lim again contested in Aljunied GRC, along with Muhamad Faisal Manap, Pritam Singh, Chen Show Mao and party leader Low Thia Khiang, who vacated his seat of Hougang to lead the charge in Aljunied. Lim was returned as an elected Member of Parliament for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency after her team won 54.71%[2] of the votes (54.72% including overseas votes), the first time that an opposition party won a Group Representation Constituency since the system's introduction on 1 June 1988. In addition, the defeat of the incumbent PAP team marked the first time in Singapore's electoral history that a serving cabinet minister lost his seat. She has been assigned to look after the Serangoon ward previously held by the PAP's Lim Hwee Hua and has also been appointed Chairman of the combined Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

Lim's victory also made her the first female opposition MP in Singapore's post-independence history.

One week after the election, she announced that she would be resigning from her lecturing job at Temasek Polytechnic after 12 years of service. She said that her political activities had already led to her having to take significant time off from her teaching duties in the past, and that she did not think it would be fair to the Polytechnic if she stayed on seeing as her Parliamentary duties would take up even more of her time.

Since then she has returned to the legal profession and is now a senior associate with Peter Low LLC.

Current posts[link]

• Chairman, Workers' Party of Singapore
• Co-Chairman, Aljunied Constituency Committee (AJCC)
• Chairman, Aljunied-Hougang Town Council

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile at Parliament of Singapore website