Lim Hui Ying

Summary

Lim Hui Ying (born 1963) is the DAP Member of Parliament for Tanjong, Penang, elected in GE15 (November 2022), and serves as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Unity Government since December 2025. Within her first parliamentary term she has held three successive deputy ministerial roles — Education, Finance, and Women, Family and Community Development — making her one of the more active junior cabinet members of the 15th Parliament. She is the daughter of DAP founder-figure Lim Kit Siang and younger sister of former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, and is the Penang DAP State Secretary.

Biography

Lim Hui Ying (Chinese: 林慧英; born 1963) is a Malaysian politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong, Penang, since November 2022, under the Democratic Action Party (DAP) banner within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition [1]. She is the daughter of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and the younger sister of Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng [1]. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Universiti Malaya [2]. Prior to her election to Parliament, she served as Penang DAP State Secretary and directed the party's Penang election campaigns for GE13 and GE14, overseeing victories in all Penang seats contested [3]. She was appointed to the Dewan Negara as a senator by the Penang state government in August 2018, resigning in November 2022 upon her election to the Dewan Rakyat [1]. In GE15 (November 2022), she won the Tanjong parliamentary seat — a seat her father had previously held for three terms between 1986 and 1999 — polling 31,968 votes with a majority of 28,754 votes in a three-cornered contest [4]. Upon the formation of the Unity Government, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in December 2022 [5]. In December 2023, she was moved to the post of Deputy Minister of Finance in a Cabinet reshuffle [6]. Following a further reshuffle in December 2025, she was assigned as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development [1]. She also serves as State Secretary of Penang DAP [1].

Known for

Lim Hui Ying is known as the first-term MP for Tanjong who, within her inaugural parliamentary term, held three successive deputy ministerial portfolios — Education, Finance, and Women, Family and Community Development — under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Unity Government [1]. She is also recognised as the Penang DAP State Secretary and a long-serving party organiser who directed two winning Penang election campaigns before entering elected office [7]. She is a member of the Lim political family, being the daughter of Lim Kit Siang and younger sister of former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng [1].

Political positions

As Deputy Minister of Finance (December 2023 – December 2025), Lim Hui Ying addressed the issue of rising medical inflation in Parliament, acknowledging that Malaysia's medical inflation rate exceeded the global average — citing data showing rates of 10% in 2022 and 12.6% in 2023 — while directing responsibility for regulating private hospital charges to the Ministry of Health [8]. On insurer interference in clinical decisions, she maintained in Parliament that insurers and third-party administrators have no power to decide patient care, and that treatment decisions remain the exclusive responsibility of doctors [9]. As Deputy Minister of Education (December 2022 – December 2023), she pledged to raise the standard of national education and supported Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek's reform agenda [10]. She also stated that the Ministry of Education takes seriously incidents of bullying, racism, and sexual harassment in schools [11]. In her current portfolio as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development (since December 2025), she has indicated that amendments to the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 are being reviewed with the aim of reinforcing protection, access, and meaningful participation for the PwD community [12].

Education

1. 1963Born in 1963. Daughter of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and younger sister of Lim Guan Eng.⛓
2. Pre-1990sGraduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Universiti Malaya.⛓

Before politics

1. 2013Served as Director of DAP's Penang election campaign for GE13, overseeing victories in all seats contested by the party in Penang.⛓
2. 2018Served as Director of DAP's Penang election campaign for GE14, again overseeing victories in all seats contested in Penang.⛓

Political career

1. August 2018Appointed as a senator to the Dewan Negara by the Penang state government for a three-year term, representing Penang.⛓
2. November 2022Won the Tanjong parliamentary seat (P049) in GE15 under the Pakatan Harapan ticket, polling 31,968 votes with a majority of 28,754 votes in a three-cornered contest, defeating Tan Kim Nee (BN) and H'ng Khoon Leng (PN). Resigned her senatorship upon election.⛓
3. December 2022Appointed Deputy Minister of Education in the Unity Government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, serving alongside Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.⛓
4. December 2023Appointed Deputy Minister of Finance following a Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, moving from the Education portfolio.⛓
5. March 2025Failed to secure a seat in DAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) at the party's 18th National Congress, obtaining 1,573 votes — below the threshold for the 30-member CEC.⛓
6. June 2025Appointed to the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) by the party leadership following the March 2025 congress, filling a vacancy.⛓
7. December 2025Appointed Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in another Cabinet reshuffle, succeeding her role as Deputy Finance Minister. Liew Chin Tong succeeded her at the Finance Ministry.⛓

Election history

• 2022TanjongWon⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• GovernmentAs a DAP deputy minister within the Pakatan Harapan Unity Government, Lim Hui Ying has represented the Ministry of Finance's position that regulating private hospital charges falls under the Ministry of Health's jurisdiction, and has defended the government's stance that insurers have no clinical decision-making authority.⛓
• OppositionA Perikatan Nasional MP called for her resignation in March 2023 after she failed to prepare an answer during an oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, and MCA Youth's secretary-general suggested her salary be docked for the lapse.⛓
• ExpertPolitical analyst Azmi Hassan (Akademi Nusantara) stated that Lim's appointment to the DAP CEC in June 2025 was likely to allow her to retain her deputy ministerial position, as it would be difficult to justify her cabinet role without a party leadership post.⛓
• ExpertJames Chin (University of Tasmania) described Lim Hui Ying's appointment to the CEC as signalling a recovery in the Lim family's standing within DAP, following earlier criticism of the family's dominance in the party.⛓
• VerifiedFactsLim Hui Ying holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Universiti Malaya. She is the first-term MP for Tanjong, having won GE15 in November 2022 with 31,968 votes and a majority of 28,754. Her father, Lim Kit Siang, held the Tanjong seat for three terms from 1986 to 1999.⛓