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In search of two heiresses BORN into old money, Miss Lim Chhui Ngor (the young girl in the photo) was the chief beneficiary of her great-grandfather’s will because she was the only remaining family member who was a direct bloodline descendant. She died last June. She was the great-granddaughter of one of Singapore’s pioneer tycoons, Lim Yew Teok, whose estate includes more than $100 million worth of OCBC Bank shares. After her great-grandmother, father and uncle died, she inherited their shares in the Lim estate. Since Miss Lim was an only child with no spouse or children, her assets can now go only to her aunts, according to the Intestate Succession Act. The administrators of Miss Lim’s estate want to track down her two maternal aunts (circled) in the picture. The woman on the left is Miss Lim’s mother. BEHIND a simple black-and-white photograph, which has been running in The Straits Times for the past week, is the story of an unclaimed fortune and a desperate search for the people who stand to inherit it. The young girl in the photograph, taken more than 40 years ago, is Miss Lim Chhui Ngor, who died last June. She was in her 50s and was the great-granddaughter of one of Singapore’s pioneer tycoons, Lim Yew Teok, whose estate includes more than $100 million worth of OCBC Bank shares. The administrators of Miss Lim’s estate want to track down her two maternal aunts, the women circled in the picture. The fourth person in the picture is Miss Lim’s mother, Madam Koh Tek Leh, who died in 1978. If the women are found, they stand to inherit Miss Lim’s fortune, as they are her only known relatives. Described as ‘educationally subnormal’, she never married and did not have any children. But there is a problem. Save for this old picture, the estate administrators have nothing much else to help them in their search; they do not even know the names of the two aunts. Hence the notice, which has been appearing in The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao every day for the past week. Mr William Wong, a partner of law firm Francis Khoo & Lim and the lawyer in charge of the case, said that if the search throws up no leads, Miss Lim’s estate will be handed over to the State, possibly in the next three months. Born into old money, Miss Lim was the chief beneficiary of her great-grandfather’s will because she was the only remaining family member who was a direct bloodline descendant. After her great-grandmother, father and uncle died, she inherited their shares in the Lim estate. Very little is known of the senior Lim, not even how he made his fortune. He had only one child, Lim Chye Inn, who is Miss Lim’s grandmother. He adopted five sons. Miss Lim’s father, Lim Ah Kow, was the only one of Lim Chye Inn’s four children who had a descendant. He died in 1953. Now that Miss Lim too has died, the direct bloodline of the senior Lim has ended with her. Since Miss Lim was an only child with no spouse or children, her assets can now go only to her aunts, according to the Intestate Succession Act. Miss Lim is a distant cousin of actors Lim Kay Tong and Lim Kay Siu. Kay Tong, 53, told The Sunday Times that he does not know much about Miss Lim. But his elder sister, Dr Irene Lim Kay Han, 55, said she met her once or twice more than 20 years ago. Dr Lim, a radiologist, said her cousin had ‘a mental age of five’, suffered a series of strokes and subsequently required constant care. Miss Lim moved out of their great-grandfather’s Peranakan house in Neil Road more than 10 years ago to live in an apartment. The house belongs to the old man’s estate. Up until her death last year, she had been receiving $30,000 a month from the senior Lim’s estate. Dr Lim remembers Miss Lim as being ‘very sweet’ and fond of dogs, but little else is known about her. Her name did come up in a Straits Times article in 1983 when the Estate and Trust Agencies stopped on her behalf an auction of antique Nonya furniture left behind in the Neil Road house. MS LIM APPEARED IN THE NEWS once before in 1983, in an article about an auction of antique Nonya furniture (above) in the Neil Road house belonging to her great-grandfather’s estate. MS LIM APPEARED IN THE NEWS once before in 1983, in an article about an auction of antique Nonya furniture in the Neil Road house (above) belonging to her great-grandfather’s estate. The furniture was valued by auctioneers at $95,000 then. Miss Lim’s uncle, retired lawyer Chng Kiat Leng, was living in the house. He died of heart failure and his body was discovered by a friend 24 hours later. Miss Lim, who did not know her uncle had died, was by his side. The article also mentioned that Miss Lim was a patient at the former Jurong Hospital in Corporation Drive and that she was ‘educationally subnormal’. Mr Wong said the search for Miss Lim’s aunts, who should be in their 70s, has extended to hospices and old folks’ homes. He said: ‘My problem is I can’t even put a name to these ladies. Otherwise, we could get private investigators and look around the region too.’
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