Lim Pin wins May Day Award

Prof Lim Pin served as NUS Vice-Chancellor for 19 years

Former NUS Vice-Chancellor Professor Lim Pin was honoured with the Distinguished Service Award during the May Day Dinner organised by the National Trades Union Congress on 29 April. Gracing the occasion at Orchid Country Club was Guest-of-Honour Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The Distinguished Service Award bestowed on Prof Lim recognises his significant contributions to tripartite discussions on wage reform and for spurring the country's economic growth during his term as the Chairman of the National Wages Council from 2001 to 2014. Prof Lim enabled the tripartite advisory body to concentrate on improving wage outcomes for Singaporeans and keeping businesses competitive.

One of the key initiatives put in place during Prof Lim's leadership included the enactment of a minimum built-in wage increase for low-wage workers to better recognise their efforts, resulting in wage growth for these employees in recent years. It was also during Prof Lim's watch that pay packages moved away from being seniority-based and became linked to business performance instead.

Prof Lim Pin is NUS' longest-serving Vice-Chancellor, helming the University for 19 years. His term began in 1981, one year after the University of Singapore merged with Nanyang University to form the National University of Singapore. Besides enhancing the quality of education, Prof Lim gave special emphasis to research, highlighting its potential contributions to society, thus cementing its position as one of the most research-intensive universities in the region.