But although he has 20 years of experience and knowledge behind him, he is not boastful about it and prefers to keep a low profile.

The unassuming and soft-spoken man started out as a clerk in Klang Port Authority (KPA) in the late seventies and slowly worked his way up in the industry.

Nevertheless, shipping was not something he always wanted to do.

"My ambition was to work in the technical field. I was always impressed by one of the characters in the Mission Impossible series.

"He was a whiz at gadgets and the success of the mission always depended on his ability to fix-up things.

"I wanted to be like him, but that was then," he said.

Although his "ambition" never materialised, he made the best out of what he could in the maritime industry.

Perhaps working in the port and getting into shipping was like going back to his roots.

Lim's grandfather, who was in the railways used to work in the port. At that time, the port and railways were closely linked and the port came under the premise of the railways. His father was also attached to the railways.

"However for me, working in the port was more of a 'convenience' as I was offered a job there and the office was not far from where I lived," said Lim. who was born and raised in Klang.

He spent 10 years in KPA where he was a traffic officer but left to join other companies, doing freight forwarding and warehousing.

Since then he joined Inchcape, which was formerly known as Optorg Co. and was the general manager in its Port Klang branch.

He now manages the firm's three branches in Malaysia.

"Working in this line has been a good learning experience for me.

"This is because the daily activities are varied in that I get to learn new things everyday and also get the opportunity to meet new people.

"Meeting people is in itself a learning experience as they share their experinces with you," he says.

As for shipping, Lim is of the opinion that the work itself is not routine because there are different challenges daily.

"I tend to travel often in my job, and I am outstation every week. I also go down to Singapore every month and to other countires such as Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan every now and then," he said.

Lim's motto in life is to be positive-minded.

"There is always ups an downs, but as long as you have a sense of direction, you won't go off track.

"The important thing is to identify your goals and work towards it. This is where having the right attitude comes into play," he enthuses.

Lim is married to Marcelle Chan, a teacher and not surprisingly the two met at the port. They have a 15 year-old son.

"I was working in the port and she was attached to a freight forwarding company, and we somehow bumped into each other," he recalled.

Lim plays badminton once a week to keep fit and has recently taken up golf, while his weekends are mostly spent with the family.

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