Born: 1898, Malaysia
Died: 3 February 1979
Country most active: Malaysia
Also known as: Mrs. B. H. Oon, Lim Beng Hong
Trailblazing Malaysian lawyer Lim Beng Hong, more commonly known as Mrs. B. H. Oon, was:
– the first woman called to the Malayan Bar in 1927.
– the first ethnically Chinese women to receive a degree from University College.
– the first Malayan woman called to the English Bar in 1926.
– the first woman to serve as a representative on the Federal Legislative Council in 1948, serving until 1955.
– the first woman in the Malayan Parliament, due to her position on the Federal Legislative Council.
She and her brother, Lim Khye Seng, travelled to England to study law together and were reportedly the first brother and sister to be called to the English Bar on the same day.
Coming from a wealthy merchant family, she taught at a girls’ school in Penang before leaving Malaysia (then called Malaya) to earn her law degree. She returned to Penang in 1927 and married. The law preventing women from joining the Bar of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States was changed the same year to allow Oon to join, and she and her brother reportedly once again made history when they were called to the Bar together. In 1930, she successfully sued a British man for assault, with Malayans rallying to her cause with a boycott of the cigarettes the man sold.
Oon worked for the firm Lim & Lim Advocates and Solicitors until the 1938 invasion by the Japanese during World War II. Oon fled to Singapore, but it too was soon occupied by the Japanese. During this time, she is said to have smuggled letters in and out of Changi Prison for prisoners of war.
After serving on the Federal Legislative Council, she joined the Labour Party as a councillor in Butterworth, Penang. The Women’s Charter she crafted was included in the Pan-Malayan Labour Party’s electoral manifesto.
From 1973 to 1975, she served as president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers. Her recognitions include an OBE in 1954 and the Pingat Tun Fatimah from the Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1974.