Editing Lim Kit Siang (section)

==Early life and education==
Lim was born on 20 February 1941 at [[Batu Pahat (town)|Batu Pahat]], [[Johor]], [[British Malaya]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leifer |first1=Michael |title=Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1135129385 |pages=166 |edition=3rd (revised)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ooi |first1=Kee Beng |title=The Right TO Differ: A Biographical Sketch of Lim Kit Siang |date=2011 |publisher=Research for Social Advancement |isbn=9789675942068 |pages=3 }}</ref> His father was from Qinying Village, while his mother was from Zhangtang Village, both located in [[Dongshan County]], [[Zhangzhou]], [[Fujian]], in [[China]]. The youngest of four children, Lim's parents gave their eldest daughter to a farmer in Qinying for adoption before immigrating to Malaya and giving birth to Lim. He had one sister and two brothers. Lim visited his ancestral village of Qinying for the first time in November 2008, meeting his brother-in-law.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 2008 |title=與家人福建尋根‧冠英"還鄉"百感交集 |url=http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/91953?tid=43 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220005513/http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/91953?tid=43 |archive-date=20 February 2012 |work=[[Sin Chew Daily]]}}</ref>

Lim spent two years studying at a Mandarin-language night school before transferring to [[Batu Pahat High School]], graduating with 5 As in his [[Senior Cambridge|Cambridge School Certificate of Education]] examination. Lim was admitted to the [[English College Johore Bahru]] to continue his [[sixth form]] studies but dropped out after two months to marry his wife, Neo Yok Tee, at the age of 19. The pair had met when they were 15 but their marriage was not approved by Lim's parents, who had wanted him to become a doctor, and disowned him.<ref name=Bold>{{Cite book |last=Kee |first=Thuan Chye |title=Lim Kit Siang. Volume 1: None but the Bold |date=2021 |publisher=Landmark Books |isbn=978-981-18-2203-2 |location=Singapore}}</ref>

He gained employment teaching English at the Senai Chinese Primary School before working as a reporter for [[The Straits Times]] and [[Mediacorp#Radio Singapore|Singapore Radio]] in Singapore, where he would live until 1965.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 November 2018 |title=新旧对照: 林吉祥与柔佛 |url=http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/1813071 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609164507/http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/1813071 |archive-date=9 June 2019 |access-date=4 July 2022 |work=[[Sin Chew Daily]]}}</ref> During this time, he became the secretary-general of the Singapore National Union of Journalists at the age of 22 and came into contact with [[Devan Nair]], then head of the [[National Trades Union Congress]].<ref name=Bold></ref>

He pursued a legal education his at [[London University]], earning a [[Bachelor of Laws]] (LL.B), and was called to the bar at [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1977.<ref name=Bold></ref>