Singapore — Kim Lim has been the target of rumours since she shared a photo of herself receiving her first COVID-19 vaccine. Many assumed it was because of her wealth that she was one of the first to get the vaccine, but the truth couldn’t be further.
Lim was reluctant to go for the jab at first but she decided to set a good example for her staff so she did it. She is the owner of three medically licensed aesthetics clinics, qualifying her and her staff for the vaccine as they are considered to be under the healthcare sector, a group that is given priority for the jab.
As reported by 8days.sg on Jan 19, Lim recalled a conversation she had with her doctor friends. Her doctor friends told Lim that she is the boss and that she needed to show her staff that it is okay to take the vaccine.
Lim added that it would be strange if her employees took the jab and she did not. She said that in her company they believe in “all for one, and one for all.” Lim said that they are in this together.
The heiress travelled to Punggol to get her shot last Thursday (January 14), upon booking her vaccination appointment via the link in the text message she got from the Ministry of Health informing her of her eligibility. Some of Lim’s staff were doubtful at first but were encouraged to follow suit. Lim said she would never force anyone to do it but it is the ideal situation as they work closely with patients daily and Lim is worried for their wellbeing.
Lim is also hands-on with the day-to-day operations of her clinics, helping out with consultations and even some of the procedures. Receiving the vaccine will help protect her family especially with her three-year-old son Kyden and her elderly grandmother. It was unexpected that her seemingly harmless blurb about getting inoculated would stir controversy.
Aesthetics clinics are also considered GP clinics and Lim was the first to go for the vaccine to show others that there was nothing to worry about.
Lim said that she did not think much about it when she posted a photo of herself taking the vaccine as she always posted photos of herself working at her clinic so she thought people would know.
In a Facebook post, a commenter asked who opened the ‘back door for her?’
“So basically, I think some people were very bo liao and were like, ‘Oh, of course, she’s rich so she can take the vaccine first’. But please lor, my father was not offered it, so what makes you think I can get it before him if that’s the case?” scoffed the famously straightforward Kim.
Lim’s father is the billionaire philanthropist Peter Lim, who owns Thomson Medical and Spanish football club Valencia, and is reportedly worth SGD2.7bil according to Forbes. Although that makes Lim like a real-life Crazy Rich Asian, it has nothing to do with why she got the COVID-19 vaccine so early.
“No one in my family except me has gotten the vaccine yet, and it’s purely ‘cos I work at the clinic,” she reiterated. “I don’t like people to think that just ‘cos I’m rich, I can do whatever I want. Hello? I don’t think the government will let me go first just like that. Wah lau, this is Singapore leh! We are not like other countries.”