Lim Soon Seng

Bernard Lim Soon Seng (Chinese: 林顺成; pinyin: Lín Shùnchéng; born 2 December 1976) is a former Singapore international footballer who played as a right wing-back for Tanjong Pagar United in the S.League.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lim.
Lim Soon Seng
Personal information
Full name Bernard Lim Soon Seng
Date of birth (1976-12-02) 2 December 1976[1]
Place of birth Singapore
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Right wing-back
Youth career
1994–1996 Tiong Bahru[nb 1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Tanjong Pagar United[nb 1]
2002 Tampines Rovers 0 (0)
National team
1998 Singapore 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Lim took up competitive football only in 1994, when he joined Tiong Bahru. He made his S.League debut in 1997 and by the following year, had established himself as a first-team player. He won the Singapore Cup and Singapore FA Cup double with the now-renamed Tanjong Pagar United in 1998, and finished league runners-up in both 1997 and 1998.[2][3] His achievements won him recognition as the 1998 S.League Young Player of the Year.[4]

His club form led to a call up to the Singapore national team for the 1998 AFF Championship in which he made his international debut against Malaysia in the opening group match. Singapore defeated Vietnam in the final to win their first international trophy.[5]

Lim was seriously injured in an accident while riding his motorbike under the influence in January 1999.[6] The injuries left him with impaired vision, coordination problems slower reflexes on the left side of his body and he had to undergo reconstruction of a ligament in his left knee.[7] He attempted to make a comeback with Tampines Rovers in 2002 but was sacked by the club after he received an eight-week prison sentence in July 2002 for alleged disorderly behaviour and assaulting a police officer.[8]

Early life

Lim was born to a taxi driver and a housewife.[9] He studied at Balestier Primary School and Thomson Secondary School before enrolling in the mechanical engineering course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.[9]

Club career

Tiong Bahru

Lim took up competitive football only in 1994, after he approached Tiong Bahru CSC youth coach Robert Lim and joined the National Football League club.[9] He started out as a centre-back, captaining the reserve team of the renamed S.League club Tiong Bahru United.[9][nb 1] His name 'Bernard' was conceived by first team captain Lim Tong Hai (no relation) in order to distinguish the two Lims.[9]

Ten days after his first reserve league appearance, Lim made his S.League debut in the 81st minute of a 2–2 away draw against defending champions Geylang United on 29 March 1997.[9][10][11] Towards the end of the season, he replaced the injured Singapore international S. Subramani in central defence. He switched to right-back after the return of Subramani and impressed head coach Robert Alberts sufficiently to retain his place as the team's first-choice right-back.[12] The club ended as 1997 S.League runners-up behind Singapore Armed Forces.[13]

Lim established himself as a first-team player for the renamed Tanjong Pagar United in the 1998 season.[nb 1] The club ended as league runners-up to Singapore Armed Forces on goal difference but achieved a Singapore Cup and Singapore FA Cup double.[2][3][14] In the same year, Lim was honoured as the S.League Young Player of the Year.[4] His performances led to a call-up to the Singapore national team.

Motorbike accident

Lim met up with national teammates R. Sasikumar and Robin Chitrakar at Clarke Quay on the night of 6 January 1999 after a national team training session was cancelled due to rain.[15] In the early morning of the following day, the trio proceeded to Newton Food Centre.[15] At 6.07 am, Lim lost control of his motorbike under the influence near Kramal Lane and was sent to the intensive care unit at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.[6][15][16] Lim suffered a mild stroke following an impact to his head, which left him with impaired vision, coordination problems and slower reflexes on the left side of his body.[7] He went into a coma for a few days and was discharged after two weeks.[7] He later underwent reconstruction of a ligament in his left knee.[7]

Lim returned to light training with Tanjong Pagar United in March but sat out the entire 1999 season.[17][18] He stopped training with Tanjong Pagar United after he was enlisted for National Service in September and took to drinking.[6] He served National Service as a clerk; Singapore Armed Forces had the option to register him as a player but chose not to.[19]

By March 2000, Lim was training with Gombak United.[6] The club wanted to sign Lim but he had three months left on his contract with Tanjong Pagar United, which he had to serve after completing his National Service in February 2002.[20] S.League rules also stated that a player cannot play for another club for the rest of the season if his contract ends midway through the season.[20] The transfer collapsed after both clubs failed to agree on a compensation fee for the remainder of his contract.[21]

Tampines Rovers

Lim's doctors had initially advised him against a return to football but he passed the S.League medical and was later certified medically fit in 2002.[7][22] Following the end of his National Service and his release by Tanjong Pagar United, Lim signed a two-year part-time contract with Tampines Rovers in March 2002 after training with them for a month.[7][22] At his request, Lim was registered as a reserve league player in order to work himself back into fitness.[7]

Prison

On 16 June 2002, Lim was arrested for alleged disorderly behaviour and assaulting a police officer.[23] His playing contract was terminated by Tampines Rovers and he was sacked from his logistics administrator job at the club chairman's company.[23] Lim received an eight-week prison sentence in July 2002.[8]

As of December 2004, Lim was working as a property agent.[24]

International career

Lim received his first call-up to the Singapore squad for a training camp in May 1998.[25] Three months later, he was named in the squad for the 1998 AFF Championship.[26] He made his international debut coming on for the injured Aide Iskandar in the 28th minute of the group stage opening match win over Malaysia on 26 August; he assisted Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin's goal in the 39th minute, Singapore's second goal in the 2–0 win.[27][28] On 5 September, he came on in the 84th minute as Singapore defeated Vietnam in the final to clinch the AFF Championship, their first international trophy.[5] Lim made a total of five substitute appearances during the tournament.

He was named in the 25-man provisional squad for the Dunhill Cup in Vietnam from 29 January to 7 February 1999, but had to withdraw from the squad after his motorbike accident.[29]

International appearances
No.DateVenueOpponentResultCompetition
1[27]26 August 1998Hanoi, Vietnam Malaysia
2–0
1998 AFF Championship
2[30]28 August 1998Hanoi, Vietnam Vietnam
0–0
1998 AFF Championship
3[30]30 August 1998Hanoi, Vietnam Laos
4–1
1998 AFF Championship
4[30]3 September 1998Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Indonesia
2–1
1998 AFF Championship
5[5]5 September 1998Hanoi, Vietnam Vietnam
1–0
1998 AFF Championship

Singapore results listed first

Honours

Tanjong Pagar United

Singapore

Individual

Notes
  1. Tiong Bahru CSC were renamed Tiong Bahru United on their entry to the S.League in 1996. They underwent a second name change to Tanjong Pagar United in 1998.

References
  1. Luis, Ernest (15 May 1998). "'I've fallen once before. I don't want to fall again'". The New Paper. p. 66.
  2. Singh, Santokh (15 November 1998). "Fantastic first for Jaguars". The Straits Times. p. 58.
  3. Singh, Santokh (23 November 1998). "Double joy for Tanjong Pagar". The Straits Times. p. 35.
  4. Lee, Jason (28 November 1998). "Shakey's Young Player of the Year". The New Paper. p. 40.
  5. Singh, Santokh (6 September 1998). "Magnificent Singapore". The Straits Times. p. 42.
  6. Luis, Ernest (14 May 2000). "Down, but definitely not out". The Straits Times. p. 46.
  7. Raymond, Jose (24 December 2001). "Over for Soon Seng?". Today. p. 28.
  8. Ho, Stanley (24 July 2002). "Ex-Lions midfielder Lim slapped with prison sentence". Today. p. 29.
  9. "Lim & Lim making sweet music at Tiong Bahru". The Straits Times. 26 March 1997. p. 32.
  10. "Geylang Utd 2 Tiong Bahru 2 match details". The Straits Times. 30 March 1997. p. 40.
  11. "A sight to behold". The Straits Times. 2 April 1997. p. 34.
  12. Nadarajah, Ben (11 May 1998). "Defender Lim kicking for a national call-up". The Straits Times. p. 38.
  13. Tay, Cheng Khoon (20 July 1997). "Jaguars tame Warriors to claim second spot". The Straits Times. p. 54.
  14. S. Murali (2 August 1998). "Jaguars fight all the way but in vain". The Straits Times. p. 39.
  15. "Flashback: the accident". The Straits Times. 14 May 2000. p. 46.
  16. S. Gulam; Melvin Singh (8 January 1999). "Critically hurt". The New Paper. p. 57.
  17. Siow, Peter (13 March 1999). "He's back". The New Paper. p. 43.
  18. Siow, Peter (17 September 1999). "It hurts". The New Paper. p. 75.
  19. Lim, Han Ming (9 November 1999). "From young player". The New Paper. p. 38.
  20. "Player's snag: His contract with Tg Pagar". The Straits Times. 14 May 2000. p. 46.
  21. "No comeback yet for ex-young star Lim". The Straits Times. 4 August 2000. p. 62.
  22. Ho, Stanley (15 March 2002). "Lim defies odds, set to join Stags". Today. p. 55.
  23. Ho, Stanley (26 June 2002). "Former Lion arrested". Today. p. 28.
  24. Luis, Ernest; Koh, Gary (26 December 2004). "Where are they now?". The New Paper. p. 74.
  25. S. Murali (13 May 1998). "Shape up or ship out, warns coach". The Straits Times. p. 39.
  26. Singh, Santokh (22 August 1998). "Yazid, Yusof out". The Straits Times. p. 46.
  27. Singh, Santokh (27 August 1998). "Latiff, Rafi star in 2-0 victory". The Straits Times. p. 40.
  28. "Duo set for bigger stage". The Straits Times. 28 August 1998. p. 56.
  29. Koh, Thomas (5 January 1999). "Zul remains with Lions". The Straits Times. p. 25.
  30. Courtney, Barrie; Cazal, Jean-Michel. "International Matches 1998 - Asia". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
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