1st Chinese M'sian lieutenant general: 'No greater honour than serving nation'

Summary

• Johnny Lim says defending the nation is a shared duty of all Malaysians, regardless of race.

• Reflecting on his 41-year career, Lim highlights unity within the armed forces and public involvement as key to building a safer, more stable Malaysia.

• He stresses the need for nationwide security awareness programmes and draws lessons from other countries that train citizens in crisis preparedness.

The first ethnic Chinese lieutenant general in the 92-year history of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Johnny Lim, has shared that his greatest source of pride is serving the nation for more than four decades, rather than the accolades he received abroad.

"I am prouder to have served the country for 41 years than to have received various international awards," he said.

Among the awards were best student at the Australian Army Command and Staff College and honorary citizenship from South Korea for his contributions to its relationship with Malaysia.

Sharing his views in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Lim stressed that defending the country is not the responsibility of any one race, but a shared task that must be undertaken by all Malaysians, including the Chinese community.

"There is no greater honour than serving our country.

"The experience you gain in the military cannot be felt anywhere else or measured in financial terms," he said, adding that the people cannot compromise on national security.

He said that Malaysians do not take security aspects lightly and are always ready to face threats.

"We need to learn from other countries that provide survival training to the people. Security starts from the awareness of each individual.

"The country needs to implement more security awareness programmes to involve all races in defending the country. With the cooperation of all parties, we can build a safer and more stable country," Lim added.

Born in Malacca, Lim received his early education at St Francis Primary and Secondary School. He said his interest in the military began during his training in the Malaysian Combined Cadet Force in his school days.

"(The training) gave me my initial exposure to discipline and leadership. From there, my interest in the military began.

"At that time, St Francis Institute was under the 21st Special Forces Group (GGK) of Sungai Udang camp, so we received training even during our days as cadets - good physical training and also good military training," he reminisced.

Later, upon joining the army, he received support from the GGK commanding officer at the time, Omar Ismail.

Fast forward 41 years later to June of this year, he received his promotion to lieutenant general.

The third child in a family of five siblings, after finishing school, he joined cadet officer training at the 25th Permanent Commission and then, in 1985, underwent military training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, before being commissioned into the Royal Ranger Regiment.

Throughout his career, Lim held various important positions, including battalion commander, chief trainer at the Army Combat Training Centre, and brigade commander.

Fighting the communists

When asked to share his military experiences, Lim said he could not forget the operation against the communist insurgency.

"When I was commissioned, I did not have time to go to the military course again - I was already operating. At that time, my battalion was operating in the north, on the border of Thailand and Malaysia and we were assigned a mission to find the Flower Garden Camp.

"A battalion went into the jungle. We were divided into several sectors. What I cannot forget is when we had an incident - those who died because of booby-traps. There were a lot of booby-traps at that time. Many were also injured by them. At that time, I was still young and saw the deaths firsthand.

"That was one of the challenges because we spent two months on the operation. But it usually took more than two months because we needed helicopters to enter and make other preparations, including food. So that was an experience that I can't forget.”

Lim also spoke of an operation he was part of in Sarawak.

“If you know history, in Peninsular Malaysia the communists surrendered. But in Sarawak, the People's Communist Party of North Kalimantan only laid down their arms on Oct 17, 1990," he said, showing photos taken during the operation.

He also participated during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading military forces to assist the authorities in movement control and patrolling, showing the armed forces' flexibility in facing crises.

However, Lim said the main challenge in these operations was finding unity within the battalion.

"As a commander, the important challenge is for unity within the battalion, how they can operate effectively as a battalion.

"The challenge as a small leader is to serve and lead them so that they can be effective," he added.

Survival skills

Lim also emphasised the concept of "whole of government, whole of society" in the National Security Policy 2021-2025.

"Recently, I visited Amsterdam and Brussels. What caught my attention was how the Dutch and Belgian governments are taking proactive steps to educate their people on crisis preparedness, especially given the situation in Ukraine.

"They have a plan to train the community on survival (skills) in the event of an emergency, such as a conflict or disaster. This reminds us of World War II, where people had to be independent to defend themselves.

"The governments of both countries are encouraging their people to be more aware and prepared, because national security is not only the responsibility of security forces such as the police or the army, but also the joint responsibility of every citizen," he added.

He said that in Malaysia, many people may still think that security issues should only be shouldered by the authorities.

"However, we cannot take this matter lightly. The global situation today is uncertain, and we do not know what may happen in the future.

"Therefore, it is important for Malaysians to understand that maintaining national security is the responsibility of all parties.

"We cannot continue to rely entirely on the government or security forces without our own awareness and preparation," he said.

Asked for advice to the people, Lim thought for a moment before saying, "Don't take things for granted."

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