Saturday, March 07, 2015

2015 “Chap Goh Mei” Dinner With Dr. JB Lim & Others


The blogger (pic right) posed with Dr. JB Lim
On March 5, 2015 (Thursday) in conjunction with “Chap Goh Mei” or the Lantern Festival celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration, I have the privilege to dine with “the Great Sifu” Dr. JB Lim, his wife Sally, their son Benjamin and girl-friend and my ex-colleague (1982-1985) Ir. Cheong Chee Kwong (CK) at Kong Sai Restaurant (广西仔菜园住家菜), Taman Paramount, P.J.

We savoured food like: steamed village chicken (菜园鸡), pork belly (stomach) pepper soup (猪肚), trotters in vinegar (猪脚醋), curry pork ribs, chicken feet salad and stir fried veggie “yau mak”.

As usual, the eloquent and talkative Dr. Lim kept sharing with us many interesting stories including medical information, his early education life and etc. in the course of dining. For instance, he explained in great detail the procedure and danger of balloon angioplasty. How all his various past institutions of higher learning changed their names over the years. His fond memories of the interaction with his Jewish lecturers and coursemates, and other interesting stories. One hilarious joke was that he (a Hainanese) couldn’t speak Cantonese well in the early days and once in KL he tried to order beef balls and literally asked for “牛波”. Meanwhile, CK also accurately answered a few engineering questions posed by Dr. Lim.

Actually I wanted to treat Dr. Lim and his family as well as my old buddy CK and pay for the dinner.  But Sally was quick to foot the bill while Dr. Lim pulled and stopped me from paying.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to Dr. Lim for his invitation and second consecutive treat of dinner and also to CK (who introduced me a few years ago to join an e-buddy group from which I acquainted Dr. Lim) for accepting my invitation to join us.   
Let's be blessed with Peace & Victory !
Look at the fork and spoon in Dr. Lim's hands.  I rarely see such posture for photos !
What a cute expression of Dr. Lim ! (老顽童 ?)
(The above 3 photos are by courtesy of Ir. CK Cheong)
Pic from left:  CK Cheong, Benjamin Lim & girl friend

Pic from right: Dr. JB Lim and his wife Sally
pork belly soup
It is understood that Dr. Lim has been invited by the “Aged Unite To Organise Rest & Recreation” or AUTORR Foundation to give a talk on “The Meaning of Health" in April. 2015 and also by Cansurvive Centre Malaysia Berhad to give a talk on “Cancer and Nutrition: A New Approach in Prevention and Treatment” in May, 2015.


He has provided his impeccable C.V. to the organizers as follows:

A Brief CV of Dr Lim Ju Boo
B.Sc. PG Dip Nutr MSc MD PhD FRSPH FRSM
 
Dr Lim Ju Boo received his early education in Batu Pahat High School, and at English College in Johore Bahru. He studied for his GCE A Levels Science at the Singapore Polytechnic in 1960 before proceeding to the University of Calcutta for his Bachelor of Science degree in medical physiology with biochemistry, pharmacology, and chemistry. He graduated in 1964.

On graduation, Dr Lim was admitted into the University of London where he read for his Postgraduate Diploma in Nutrition at the well-known Queen Elizabeth College (King’s College), graduating in 1966.

He then proceeded to the University of Cambridge to conduct work on experimental medicine the following year.

He again won another British scholarship to read for his Master of Science degree in Food Safety, Analytical Food Chemistry, Microbiology and Quality Control at the University of Reading, England, graduating with an MSc in 1967.


Pursuant to his postgraduate training and specializations, Dr Lim worked as a Research Nutritionist and Medical Toxicologist at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at Cambridge, United States of America the following year.

At MIT he teamed up with US researchers to study the role of mycotoxins on liver diseases and cancers in SE Asia before beginning a more permanent career with the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia in 1969 where he was posted to several departments at the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) as a Senior Medical Research Officer and Head of Rural Health Research. 


At the IMR he underwent more training courses in bio-statistics, epidemiology, community health research, behavoural sciences, clinical research among others. While working and on partial study leave, he completed his MD (Cal) in 1980.

He then further underwent a post-doctoral training in molecular medicine where he developed an interest in the molecular and cellular basis on the pathogenesis of most diseases including cancers

But it was when he was posted to conduct rural health research instead, initially to his disliking, that Dr Lim developed another interest in native medicine, especially in natural medicine and medicinal plants as practised by most rural villagers, and now globally by most people as well.


It was here he cultivated his new interest. He then began doing his PhD, choosing Naturopathic Medicine as another field of his new specialization.  He left for London again to complete his training, completing his PhD in 1988.

On his return from England, he was tasked differently to head a team of medical specialists and research scientists to conduct a very difficult landmark human clinical trial on the efficacy of Malaysian palm oil on anti thrombogenicity and heart disease.

That effort however turned the palm oil industry round in 1989 after years of aggressive US lobbying against Malaysian palm oil.


He then left to advance his further clinical training in naturopathic medicine at medical centres in Sydney and Melbourne while on a study leave from the Institute for Medical Research.

On his return, only then he was asked to spearhead a Joint WHO-MOH-IMR Committee on Traditional and Alternative Medicine to initiate the government’s plan and afford at the recommendation of WHO to integrate and to implement traditional and alternative systems of medical practices into the mainstream national health care structure of Malaysia.

This system is successfully and officially gazetted, and is now in place at government and private hospitals, as well as in private practice in this country.

He was also instrumental in a study with a team of medical experts to establish the new Sungai Buloh Hospital to replace the Leprosy Sanatorium.

Dr Lim retired from Malaysian Civil Service in 1994.


In recognition of his exceptional educational and professional achievements, and for his contribution to health and medicine, Dr. Lim was made a Fellow of the 200-year old Royal Society of Public Health (FRSPH) on 1st October, 1975 in London, and in 1994, he was also admitted into the Rolls of Life Fellow of the prestigious 300-year old Royal Society of Medicine in London.
 
Dr Lim is a founding member of many academic and professional societies, among them, the Nutrition Society of Malaysia, the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, the Malaysian Senior Scientists Association, Malaysian Invention and Designs Society where he is an International Judge for ITEX for the last 22 years till today.

It is to these scientific and professional societies he has given countless lectures, talks, presented scientific papers on health, medical and scientific issues. He has chaired many national and international scientific conferences.
 

Dr Lim is currently a Special Medical and Science Adviser, and Chief Consultant to the Technical Advisory Board at Dynapharm Pharmaceutical Int’l Group

He plays the violin and is a member of the Kuala Lumpur Symphony Orchestra. His other hobbies include astronomy, music, radio listening especially BBC, ABC and CRI, nature study, microscopy, reading, among others.

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2 Comments:

At 9:16 PM , Blogger Lim Ju Boo BSc, Postgrad Dip Nutrition, MSc, MD, PhD, FRSPH, FRSM said...

Dear Learned Ir TO Lau

Our dinner for Chap Goh Meh dinner is just a simple get-together among us.

I simply just enjoyed the presence of your and Ir CK Cheong's company where we can tell some stories.

There is no need to write an account about me. My CV is not important as I am now retired. It was written only because it was requested by Ms Lin Chua, Chair Lady of AUTORR Foundation, and by Mr. Stanley Ong, Vice President of Cancer Survival Society, both of whom have asked me for it because they have asked me to give a talk to their organizations.

Hence, they need my CV to introduce me as the speaker.

But I did not expect you would use my CV to introduce me to the whole world through your blog.

You know I am not an important person worthy of knowing. I merely like to befriend and socialize with any person
I just to hear to hear stories tell me, and to share life experiences over a cup of coffee.

You and Ir CK Cheong are great engineers who can tell me a lot of things about engineering.

Some of which you and Ir. CK have told me that evening such as how do you lift a crane to the top of high rise buildings, and about structural designs of bridges.

You and Ir CK have taught me this during the dinner.

Engineering is a very fascinating applied science to me. I have always wondered how structural and civil engineers are able to put up such massive and huge structures suspended above the ground.

It is really a feat of stupendous engineering. Only great minds like you trained at the prestigious University of Singapore and Ir. CK trained from first class University of Liverpool can do this “circus act”.

I always respect engineers and their professions because this requires a great deal of analytical thinking and mathematics to work out.

Mathematics as everybody knows is a subject meant only for highly intelligent people like you. They need very logical and thinking brain.

If a doctor makes a mistake it affects only his patient, perhaps his loved ones too, but if an engineer makes an error, the entire public safety is at stake. That's a huge difference.

So you need to publish a CV of yourself, your training, your profession and your responsibility as an engineer modern society owes you.

I have always wanted to be an engineer, a physicist, a pilot or an astronomer. But I do not have that thinking brain to be one except being curious. The pasture is always greener over the other side.

Thanks to both of you for your enjoyable company.

Actually our Chap Goh Meh dinner should be held precisely at 40 seconds past 2:06 am on March 6, instead of 7:00 pm on 5th March, because astronomical calculations tell me the Moon is only totally full at this precise moment in time for Malaysia.

Thus, technically this ought to be the precise time for Chap Goh Meh (Full Moon) to announce the last day of Chinese New Year in 2015 for this country.

Unfortunately, if we were to wait for this exact moment in time to beat the gong, that restaurant would be closed, and we will all go home hungry. We need to engineer the time for our dinner a bit.

Thank you once again for your presence.

Lim ju boo

 
At 10:12 PM , Blogger taionn said...

Dear Great Sifu,

Your points are noted and your modesty most respected.

TO Lau

 

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