Lim Chor Pee (1936 - 5 December 2006) was a lawyer and playwright. He was a pioneer of English-language theatre in Singapore, and is considered to be Singapore's first English-language playwright.

Early life and education

Lim was born in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

in 1936. He attended the

Penang Free School , motto_translation = Strong and Faithful , streetaddress = Green Lane, , city = George Town , state = Penang , postcode = 11600 , country = Malaysi ...

in 1940s. He studied at

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

in the 1950s. He was called to the Bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in June 1959. In September 1962, he was admitted to the Malayan Bar in Singapore.

Career

He founded the

Experimental Theatre Club __NOTOC__ :''This club should not be confused with the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club of New York.'' The Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) is a student dramatic society at the University of Oxford, England. It was founded in 1936 by Nevill Coghil ...

in the 1960s to encourage English-educated playwrights by staging their plays. He also served as the company's artistic director 1961 to 1967. He wrote his first play, '' Mimi Fan'', in 1962. The play featured characters that did not speak

Queen's English Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

. His second play, '' A White Rose at Midnight'', was written by 1964. Both plays were staged at the Cultural Centre Theatre by Experimental Theatre Club. He was not satisfied with his third and final play, which was not staged. By then, he had begun to lose interest in drama. He established his own law firm, Chor Pee & Hin Hiong, in 1964. In the same year, he contributed two articles to the literary journal '' Tumasek''. Chor Pee & Hin Hiong later dissolved, and he established Chor Pee and Company, another law firm. It later became Chor Pee & Partners. As a litigator, he handled several high-profile cases, such as the Jumabhoy family feud over family assets.

Personal life and death

Lim was married and had three children. He died of cancer on 5 December 2006.

References

{{Authority control 1936 births 2006 deaths Singaporean dramatists and playwrights Singaporean lawyers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge