The military jacket, which comes with a parachutist badge, a military insignia and a whistle, belongs to Herbert Lim Eng Kwan (1927 – 2002). He was the eldest son of Lim Chong Pang and Lee Poh Neo, and a third generation member of two famous pioneer families in Singapore. Mrs Lee Choon Guan, daughter of Tan Keong Saik and founder president of the Chinese Ladies’ Association, was his maternal grandmother and Lim Nee Soon, a Teochew millionaire who made his fortune in the rubber and pineapple industries, was his paternal grandfather. Herbert is also the eldest son of Lim Chong Pang. Nine days before the Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, Herbie (as he was affectionately known) and some of his family members were evacuated and eventually settled in Bangalore, South India for the duration of the war. Several women in the family, including his grandmother, Mrs Lee Choon Guan joined the Women’s Voluntary Service. In 1945, Herbie joined Z Force, an arm of the British Intelligence Force 136 after he completed his high school studies. He became a paratrooper who held the rank of Captain. However, three weeks before he was supposed to be parachuted into Malaya, the Japanese surrendered and he missed the chance to participate in the liberation of Malaya.
