Lim Kit Siang, a bright man who dropped out to marry his sweetheart at 19

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Well known as a fearless opposition leader for decades, Lim Kit Siang started early in going against the grain.

At 17, he scored 5As in his Cambridge School Certificate of Education examination (or Senior Cambridge as it was otherwise known). He was among a handful in the country to have achieved this.

He went on to pass the Form Six entrance examination, a prerequisite then to enter pre-university class, with flying colours. He was then admitted to the prestigious English College in Johor Bahru.

At 19, he was a top student with the world at his feet. Or so it seemed. Two months into his Form Six, Lim abruptly stopped school to marry his sweetheart – a shy classmate who he befriended at his night tuition class.

His parents were aghast and made their anger plain, but Lim stuck to his guns, ignoring his family’s pleas not to quit school and “throw away” a bright future.

- More -