Kim Lim: Singapore's most famous socialite gets back up

Kim Lim is a Singaporean socialite with a strong social media presence. She became known for being Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim's daughter.

All images are from @kimlimhl / Instagram unless otherwise stated.

Born in 1992, Kim Lim is the daughter of Singaporean palm oil investor billionaire Peter Lim. In Europe, her father is known for owning the Spanish football club Valencia FC.

This is Kim Lim as a child, together with her father and brother.

Recently divorced from her hairstylist husband Kho Bin Kai, Kim Lim lives an independent life as a single mother, caring for her son Kyden.

Her pregnancy of Kyden was hidden from social media and the public for its entire term. However, nowadays the socialite is more open about sharing personal photos with her son.

Kim Lim's philanthropic side is not often in the media. However, the socialite is very active in social work and is known in the community for being charitable.

Kim Lim is also a dog person and has a longstanding love for the animal.

The socialite keeps a surprisingly low profile and generally does not post information about her personal life, despite her fame and the many celebrity links she has. However, her romantic life has often been the topic of Singaporean tabloids.

Kim Lim is linked to many famous Singaporean celebrities. Her close friends include celebrity hairstylist David Gan, makeup artist Shaun Lee, and fellow socialite and heiress Arissa Cheo.

Kim Lim is especially close with (now former) South Korean singer Seungri from the K-pop group Big Bang.

Like her father Peter Lim, Kim is also an avid football fan. One thing she got under her belt is an interview with football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Since that conversation in The Straits Times, the two have been on friendly terms. Ronaldo was one of the first people to visit her following the birth of her son Kyden.

Kim Lim also has other football connections. The socialite is on friendly terms with football legend David Beckham and Everton Football Club player André Gomez.

Kim Lim works as a businesswoman. She has three medically registered aesthetic clinics under her name. The socialite is very active in promoting them on social media.

In 2021, Kim Lim was alleged to have skipped the COVID-19 vaccine queue by using her connections as billionaire Peter Lim’s daughter.

In an attempt to disprove the rumors, Kim reminded the public on Instagram of her role as a frontline medical worker in all three of her clinics. "We have GP clinics too," she said, "so those working there are eligible."

Kim Lim strongly asserted that it is not easy for Singaporeans to jump the queue in getting the COVID-19 vaccine early.

She told the public that despite her getting the shot, her billionaire dad hasn’t and is still on the waiting list of Singaporeans nationwide waiting to get their shot. Kim only got the vaccine early due to her direct and active involvement in the frontlines of her clinics.

The accusation simmered out since then, but here are some other notable incidences where Kim Lim got embroiled in scandals due to her billionaire association and status as an influencer.

For one, Kim Lim's father is the owner of the Spanish football club Valencia FC, and that may come with some controversies. The Straits Times reported that Kim went to see a game there in 2015 and got the football stadium to play Big Bang’s ‘Fantastic Baby’ during half-time. The song was meant as a tribute to the singer Seungri who was in the audience with her.

In another scandal, Kim Lim was the target of a slew of cyberattacks from disgruntled Valencia FC fans who blamed her for Valencia FC’s poor performance during the 2020 La Liga football season. The attacks were marked with the hashtag ‘#LimGoHome’.

A much bigger controversy occurred in 2019, when Kim was embroiled in the now-infamous ‘Burning Sun’ scandal. Seungri got indicted for human trafficking and left the entertainment industry. Despite having no major involvement in the scandal, Chosun Ilbo reports that Kim Lim was one of Seungri's clients and that the latter had dispatched several girls to accompany her during a visit to Seoul.

(Photo: YG entertainment, promotion for Seungri 2018 solo album 'The Great Seungri')

Kim Lim has denied the allegations, however, and clarified to netizens on Instagram what happened. She denied asking for girls from Seungri to accompany her during her stay. Apart from clarifying her side of the story, Kim Lim has also threatened to take legal action against news outlets that continue to suggest her link to the scandal.

From her account to mothership.sg, Kim labels the event as a cyberbullying event and has since hit back and defended herself against the haters on Instagram. The scandals ultimately prove that she's able to push through adversity and holds her ground against her detractors, despite the many accusations aimed at her.

In 2022, Kim Lim made headlines once again for her very prolific and swift second marriage and divorce to Leslie Leow, a Singaporean IT entreprenur. According to Mothership, the two split after only two months due to disputes regarding money.

The divorce had understandably strained Kim Lim's mental health, as she told The Straits Times in an interview that it had exacerbated her ongoing battle with depression. However, it appears that 2023 has been a much better year for her thus far, as she announced in February that she was "finally done" with the divorce.

Since the divorce, Kim Lim is now more known in the public eye recently in 2023 for her open support for her ex-husband, Kho Bin Kai, who is facing a prison sentence, and for her involvement in football legend Christiano Ronaldo's visit to Singapore in June, according to reports from The Straits Times and 8days respectively.

Earlier in November, Kim Lim spoke with Singaporean influencer Xiaxue about a deeply personal matter. Kim Lim, according to The Straits Times, revealed her childhood trauma of being abused by a family member.

According to Mothership, Kim Lim emphasised that her abuser was not her billionaire father Peter Lim. Kim Lim described the family member's abuse and said it left her with hand scars.

The Straits Times reports that as Peter Lim was physically unable to stop the abuse due to him being absent at home mostly, he resorted to sending his daughter off to boarding school to London as a way to protect Kim Lim.

According to The Straits Times, Kim Lim's childhood traumas, combined with more recent traumas, have left her with a desire to move things in a more emotionally healthy direction, and she has been seeing a therapist to help her manage her negative emotions when needed.

We hope the best for Kim Lim as she moves on to a new chapter of her life, far from the traumatic experiences of the past.