Kim Lim, billionaire heiress, socialite, mum-of-one and… philanthropist? The 27-year-old daughter of Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim who owns Spanish La Liga club Valencia, visited Mongolia in October, where she made headlines for helping to build gers, or houses, for the homeless there.
Kim posted a series of photos on her Instagram account of her time there, where she also distributed food to the poor, and visited eldercare centres and orphanages.
She told The New Paper (TNP) that she was motivated to help after watching a documentary on the homeless situation in Mongolia, and that being a mother has opened her eyes to the importance of taking care of children, especially those in impoverished areas.
“Now that I am a mum, it made me realise that kids depend on us for everything and it is important for them to have a good childhood,” she said.
She dedicated one of the houses to her one-year-old son, Kyden, with the following caption:
Kyden, daddy and mummy have contributed these gers (houses) under your name to those who seriously need it. Really happy that all the houses have been completed just before the winter. We can’t change the world but we can make a difference by every bit we do – this difference means the world to those receiving it. Hope that you will understand the joy of paying it forward when you grow up one day too.
How beautiful. “I want my kid to grow up and understand the value of paying it forward and care for the people in need,” she told TNP. After Mongolia, Kim intends to do more charity projects to help children in need and the less privileged in general.
Here are 12 more things you didn’t know about her:
Photo: Instagram/ @kimlimhl
The daughter of billionaire Peter Lim, the 27-year-old holds court on social media, with over 200,000 Instagram followers and thousands of likes per post. Singaporeans just lap up the peeks into her jetsetting lifestyle on the social media platform, which she joined in 2012.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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Despite the luxury afforded to such a wealthy individual, Kim has a very simple style of dressing. “My main priority is comfort. I have heels, but I love sneakers,” she says, before adding, “My dad is a simple guy too, usually in shorts and a T-shirt.”
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
SEE PICS: SOCIALITE KIM LIM’S EXTRAVAGANT PARTY FOR HER SON’S 99TH-DAY AT THE RITZ-CARLTON MILLENIA
Kim fought back against enraged supporters of her dad’s football club, Valencia, and even got into an online spat with some of them when they flooded her Instagram account with racist comments. “I’m also not just standing up for myself, but for Asians as a whole,” she said of her critical comments.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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Her home life is simple too, it appears. She loves to travel and eat well, but when in Singapore, she eats mostly hawker centre food and home-cooked meals by her nanny, with whom she lives in an apartment in the Orchard Road area. She has previously described herself as an Ah Lian.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
SEE PICS: SOCIALITE KIM LIM’S EXTRAVAGANT PARTY FOR HER SON’S 99TH-DAY AT THE RITZ-CARLTON MILLENIA
The 25-year-old socialite is super close to Seungri of K-pop boy group Big Bang fame. She even arranged for Seungri to attend a Valencia match against Real Madrid in 2015 and requested for the band’s hit “Fantastic Baby” to be played during half time.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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No surprise here. Influenced by her father, she’s greatly involved in charity work, volunteering regularly at the Apex Day Rehabilitation Centre for the Elderly at Bukit Merah View. “I would pack and distribute food to the old folks every year. It’s very enjoyable and I like spending time with them,” she says.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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Kim often travels to London and she even speaks with a twang that is a mixture of local and British inflections, thanks to the years spent at the all-girl boarding school Queenswood in Hertfordshire, where she was sent when she was 12.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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According to her interview with 8 Days, the socialite revealed that she was struggling with her weight and insecurities back in school.
In the interview, Kim said, “I have my insecurities. Do you know, in primary school, I was in the TAF club?” She continued to say that she was often bullied in school and people would call her fat.
Kim eventually worked through her eating disorder when she started developing really bad gastric problems.
Now, Kim eats healthily and tries to work out more often. We’re glad to see that she’s doing well!
Photos: @kimlimhl/Instagram
The animal lover has an army of pampered pooches at home. Kim owns four dogs – two French bulldogs (five-year-old Wei Wei and three-year-old Smallie), five-year-old cocker spaniel Basil and 3½-year-old English bulldog Cookie. Just a few years ago, she roped in some celebrity friends to launch a fundraising calendar for an animal welfare group.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
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Kim may not be a celebrity but as a major social media influencer, she’s got lots of clout. So much so that she has fronted a few brands including Kowayo Aesthetics and HABA. She was also the style ambassador for Digital Fashion Week in 2014.
Photo: Instagram (@kimlimhl)
ALSO READ: WATCH KIM LIM #WALKTHELINE WITH YSL BEAUTY’S LATEST LIPSTICK
Kim’s stepmother is local actress Cherie Lim. Her father, Peter Lim married Cherie in 2003.
Photos: @kimlimhl/Instagram
ALSO READ: NEW MUM KIM LIM SHARES POST-PREGNANCY WEIGHT LOSS SECRETS
Writer Natalya Molok had the pleasure of meeting Kim at a Pandora event exactly one year ago in July. In the picture above taken along with fashion influencer and street style star, Yoyo Cao, you can see, Kim is tall, like really tall. Her official height is listed at 1.7 metres. While on paper that doesn’t sound like much, she obviously towers over many people IRL dontcha think?
Photo: Natalya Molok
This article first appeared on The Singapore Women’s Weekly.
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