One Malaysian has made an impact on the lives of thousands of refugees.
IT WAS a toss between investment banking or working with refugees, and Lim Wei Meng chose the latter. Today, she is the deputy director of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) based in New York.
Over the years, Lim’s work has exposed her to various risky situations such as a bomb explosion in Thailand, to being pointed at with guns at sea by Sri Lankan navy officers.
‘It’s a very rich and rewarding experience to see people I had helped get a new start in their lives after flight from war and persecution,’ says Lim Wei Meng.
The people she meets have tugged at her heartstrings but more importantly, she has made a distinct impact on the lives of thousands of refugees.
A former Bukit Bintang Girls School student in Kuala Lumpur, Lim studied law at Universiti Malaya after completing her Form Six in 1972. After graduating, she spent a few years in private practice but the nature of the job wsn’t to her liking.
“I found it too commercialised, dry and uninteresting,” said Lim, who was then a legal assistant at a law firm. “My work was basically about helping big corporate clients make more money, and chasing after the small guys to collect debts or to foreclose their property.”
Lim wanted to continue using her legal training, yet not practise law. “I was young and wanted to do a more humanistic type of work, travel, meet people and live abroad.”
Then, Lim received two separate offers: to join an investment bank or the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur.
“I chose UNHCR, which had an opening for a national officer. At that time, there was a high influx of Vietnamese boat people and the KL office wanted a local lawyer to scrutinise their local contracts, and handle contractors and legal matters with the authorities.”
Lim spent a year and a half there before deciding she wanted to work for the organisation as an international staff member. She went to the United States to do her masters at University of California, Los Angeles.
In 1983, Lim joined UNHCR in Bangkok as an assistant protection officer, spending the next three years handling legal and protection matters related to Cambodian refugees in Thailand.
“It was a very exhilarating start to my international career, as the programme in Thailand was very large, with three distinct case-loads of refugees – Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese. It was one of the largest refugee resettlement programmes of its time.
“As a protection officer dealing with Cambodians, my work was to promote the admission and protection of Cambodian refugees in Thailand,” she said.
Lim moved to New York July last year to take up her present duty as deputy director. Prior to that, Lim was based in Geneva for four years as chief of the protection policy and legal advice section in the Department of International Protection Services.
Before Geneva, Lim served as deputy chief of mission in UNHCR India for three years.
“The best part of my job is being able to work in so many different places, meet different people and make a difference in the lives of others. For example, a Cambodian teenager, whom I facilitated resettling to the Netherlands, wrote to me for four years. I literally watched him grow up, integrate and mature over those years.
“It’s a very rich and rewarding experience to see people I had helped get a new start in their lives after flight from war and persecution,” Lim added.
However, Lim also faces her fair share of frustrations. “What gets me down is when I find myself helpless in the face of government policies which are not favourable to refugees. Sometimes, our efforts at advocacy work, sometimes they don’t. There were occasions when refugees were forcibly returned against their wish to danger,” she said.
Personally, living in the Big Apple has also been a challenge for Lim.
“New York is such a mega city and it’s exhausting coping with public transportation. I am used to a more quiet lifestyle and I enjoy driving, so I really miss that,” said Lim, who’s a single parent with a 16-year-old son.
Now in her 50s, Lim’s long term plans include bringing up her son well, retiring and enjoying the company of old school friends back in Malaysia.
“As a single parent, it is a constant challenge to balance personal and professional life. There were times when I wondered if I had entered the right career in terms of financial reward and family life. I sometimes feel if I had remained in the banking industry, life would have been so different.
“Still, the fact that my work has had a positive impact on so many people’s lives makes me feel it was the right decision. Success should not be measured only in financial terms. Life can be enriched in so many different ways,” she concluded.
Fact File
NAME: Lim Wei Meng
AGE: 50s
HOMETOWN: Kuala Lumpur
EDUCATION: Bukit Bintang Girls School, KL, Universiti Malaya, KL; University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
OCCUPATION: Deputy director, UNHCR
CURRENT: New York
YEARS ABROAD: 26
Over the years, Lim’s work has exposed her to various risky situations such as a bomb explosion in Thailand, to being pointed at with guns at sea by Sri Lankan navy officers.
‘It’s a very rich and rewarding experience to see people I had helped get a new start in their lives after flight from war and persecution,’ says Lim Wei Meng.
The people she meets have tugged at her heartstrings but more importantly, she has made a distinct impact on the lives of thousands of refugees.
A former Bukit Bintang Girls School student in Kuala Lumpur, Lim studied law at Universiti Malaya after completing her Form Six in 1972. After graduating, she spent a few years in private practice but the nature of the job wsn’t to her liking.
“I found it too commercialised, dry and uninteresting,” said Lim, who was then a legal assistant at a law firm. “My work was basically about helping big corporate clients make more money, and chasing after the small guys to collect debts or to foreclose their property.”
Lim wanted to continue using her legal training, yet not practise law. “I was young and wanted to do a more humanistic type of work, travel, meet people and live abroad.”
Then, Lim received two separate offers: to join an investment bank or the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur.
“I chose UNHCR, which had an opening for a national officer. At that time, there was a high influx of Vietnamese boat people and the KL office wanted a local lawyer to scrutinise their local contracts, and handle contractors and legal matters with the authorities.”
Lim spent a year and a half there before deciding she wanted to work for the organisation as an international staff member. She went to the United States to do her masters at University of California, Los Angeles.
In 1983, Lim joined UNHCR in Bangkok as an assistant protection officer, spending the next three years handling legal and protection matters related to Cambodian refugees in Thailand.
“It was a very exhilarating start to my international career, as the programme in Thailand was very large, with three distinct case-loads of refugees – Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese. It was one of the largest refugee resettlement programmes of its time.
“As a protection officer dealing with Cambodians, my work was to promote the admission and protection of Cambodian refugees in Thailand,” she said.
Lim moved to New York July last year to take up her present duty as deputy director. Prior to that, Lim was based in Geneva for four years as chief of the protection policy and legal advice section in the Department of International Protection Services.
Before Geneva, Lim served as deputy chief of mission in UNHCR India for three years.
“The best part of my job is being able to work in so many different places, meet different people and make a difference in the lives of others. For example, a Cambodian teenager, whom I facilitated resettling to the Netherlands, wrote to me for four years. I literally watched him grow up, integrate and mature over those years.
“It’s a very rich and rewarding experience to see people I had helped get a new start in their lives after flight from war and persecution,” Lim added.
However, Lim also faces her fair share of frustrations. “What gets me down is when I find myself helpless in the face of government policies which are not favourable to refugees. Sometimes, our efforts at advocacy work, sometimes they don’t. There were occasions when refugees were forcibly returned against their wish to danger,” she said.
Personally, living in the Big Apple has also been a challenge for Lim.
“New York is such a mega city and it’s exhausting coping with public transportation. I am used to a more quiet lifestyle and I enjoy driving, so I really miss that,” said Lim, who’s a single parent with a 16-year-old son.
Now in her 50s, Lim’s long term plans include bringing up her son well, retiring and enjoying the company of old school friends back in Malaysia.
“As a single parent, it is a constant challenge to balance personal and professional life. There were times when I wondered if I had entered the right career in terms of financial reward and family life. I sometimes feel if I had remained in the banking industry, life would have been so different.
“Still, the fact that my work has had a positive impact on so many people’s lives makes me feel it was the right decision. Success should not be measured only in financial terms. Life can be enriched in so many different ways,” she concluded.
Fact File
NAME: Lim Wei Meng
AGE: 50s
HOMETOWN: Kuala Lumpur
EDUCATION: Bukit Bintang Girls School, KL, Universiti Malaya, KL; University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
OCCUPATION: Deputy director, UNHCR
CURRENT: New York
YEARS ABROAD: 26
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