Lim Kim San was Minister for Education from 1970 to 1972. From 1971 to 1978, he was Chairman of the Public Utilities Board. During this period, he became Singapore's first Minister for the Environment in 1972, and stayed there till 1975. He was Minister for National Development and Communications from 1975 to 1978, and Minister for National Development from 1978 to 1979. He returned to the Ministry of the Environment in 1979 and stayed there till 1981. He was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NTUC Welcome Consumers’ Cooperative Ltd. in 1973; Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) from 1979 to 1994; Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 1981 to 1982; and Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers from 1992 to 2003. In his foray into the private sector, Lim became Executive Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings in 1988. He retained that post until 2002, when he became the group's Senior Adviser and helped guide the company until he retired in 2005. He contributed to Singapore's governance, its economy and its media in these diverse fields.

EDUCATION

By early 1971, Singapore had overcome, to a large extent, quantitative needs in the field of education. A place in school was ensured for every child of school-going age; indeed, 98 per cent of those in this age group were in school. Yet, the key question was what kind of education would decide whether Singapore's small population of two million would be a valuable asset or a severe handicap.

Speaking at the opening of a Singapore Teachers’ Union seminar, Lim noted that the need earlier on had been to expand available educational facilities fast enough to provide a place for every child of school-going age. Singapore was in a position now to allow more flexibility in allowing individual children to proceed at a pace more suited to their abilities.