KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — A former Malaysian policeman who later turned to training dolphins has been elected as an Australian member of Parliament after winning the Perth seat of Tangey today.
Sam Lim, who was born in Malaysia and is the eldest of eight children, dethroned Liberal Ben Morton with a 9.5 per cent margin in what many called an unlikely result in the Western Australian state.
According to reports from 9News, Lim was a former police officer in Malaysia serving for two years before he said that he had to quit due to the low pay.
He then became a dolphin trainer at a safari park in Malaysia. Lim said the park went into liquidation, so all the animals were released into the ocean.
“That was the worst part of my career at that time, but we got to say goodbye to them.
“But yet, we feel very happy they are back to their home,” Lim was quoted as saying by the Australian news agency.
Growing up in a poor family with no power or water, Lim said he had to struggle the first 15 years of his life, but credits those hard times for building his character and preparing him for hardships.
After losing his job as a dolphin trainer, Lim turned to business and attributes this success to being able to migrate his family to Australia in 2002 with his wife and three children and joined Western Australia’s Police Academy in 2006.
He was awarded Police Officer of the Year in 2020 for his work with multicultural communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Being a police officer is a great job, I love the blue uniform,” said Lim, who speaks multiple languages.
