Lim Kok Ann () (1920-2003) was a Singaporean chess player and organizer, and a microbiologist specializing in enterovirus research.

Early life

Born January 27, 1920, Lim had been a student at Anglo-Chinese School and

Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both ...

in 1936 and in 1938 was a Queen's scholar.

Microbiology career

As a microbiologist at the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

, Lim was the first to isolate the specific virus (Influenza A/Singapore/1/57) during the

1957–1958 influenza pandemic The 1957–1958 Asian flu pandemic was a global pandemic of influenza A virus subtype H2N2 that originated in Guizhou in Southern China. The number of excess deaths caused by the pandemic is estimated to be 1–4 million around the world (1957� ...

using chicken embryos in eggs. In 1959, while working for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

in Houston, Texas, he developed the Lim-Benyesh-Melnick (LBM) protocol for serotyping human enterovirus isolates. By introducing various combinations of viruses in each egg (instead of testing for each one individually), scientists can more quickly isolate the specific virus using fewer trials, a procedure still in use decades later. In August 1965, Lim was appointed as the dean of the medical faculty at the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

, and in the 1960s he promoted acceptance of the novel Sabin polio vaccine amidst public skepticism of the new treatment.

Chess

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

, the world chess federation, called Lim one of "the Fathers of Asian chess" for his work in promoting the game. ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'' called him "the father of chess" in Singapore. He founded the

Singapore Chess Federation The Singapore Chess Federation ( Abbreviation: SCF) is the principal authority over all chess events in Singapore, and was founded in 1949 by Lim Kok Ann. Its promotion of the game has caused participation in its youth and interschool events, among ...

in 1949 which held its first national chess championship the same year. Lim won the event himself, and again in 1960 and 1968, and served as president of the federation for 18 years. From 1982 to 1988, Lim was the secretary general of FIDE, creating and publishing the first FIDE handbook. He is remembered for modernizing the fifty move rule in the computer age and creating the "Lim System" for tournament pairings.

Personal life

Lim was the grandson of

Lim Boon Keng Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...

, a doctor, educator, and philanthropist. Lim was married to Rosie Seow Guat Kheng (1922-1994), the daughter of

Seow Poh Leng Seow Poh Leng (1883 - 1942) one of the first few Peranakan Babas at Emerald Hill,Historic buildings of Singapore by Edwin Lee, Singapore. Preservation of Monuments Board, 1990, , was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker, founding ...

, a bank manager. She was an actress and a teacher. Lim was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, and had five children, among them the writer and playwright

Stella Kon Stella Kon (''née'' Lim Sing Po, born 1944) is a Singaporean playwright. She is best known for her play, ''Emily of Emerald Hill'', which has been staged internationally. She is a recipient of the S.E.A. Write Award. Biography Kon was born ...

. He died of a heart attack on March 8, 2003.

Selected publications

* Lim, K. A., Smith, A., Hale, J. H., & Glass, J. (1957). Influenza outbreak in Singapore. ''Lancet'', ''273''(6999), 791–796. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(57)90893-0 * Lim, K. A., & Benyesh-Melnick, M. (1960). Typing of viruses by combinations of antiserum pools. Application to typing of enteroviruses (Coxsackie and ECHO). ''Journal of immunology'', ''84'', 309–317. * Lim, K. A., Chan, Y. C., Phoon, W. O., & Hanam, E. (1964). Dengue-type viruses isolated in Singapore. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 30(2), 227–240. *

External links

Unpublished autobiography of Lim Kok Ann
*

References

{{reflist, 30em Singaporean Methodists Singaporean chess players Singaporean scientists Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent 1920 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Singaporean people