23 June 1947 - 8 May 2011
On May 8, 2011, Margaret Lim has passed away peacefully in the arms of her loving husband and children. She had lost the fight against cancer and ended her journey on earth, leaving behind lovely memories in our hearts.
Margaret’s work of passion will live on at this blog and, soon, some of her unpublished work will be posted, as well.
We would like to share the following dedication by Margaret’s sister Aileen:
“Maggie passed away on Sunday, 8 May 2011, in Germany. It is a very significant day that is so representative of her life. God could not have granted her a better gift as it was Mother’s Day, and as a creative writer, she would have appreciated the symbol very much. She also only left towards the end of the day, a mother to the last.
Looking back, I realise that she had that special touch of a mother in the way she played her roles in life: as a friend or as a family member – aunt, cousin, niece, sister, wife, and of course mother.
She was always generous, considerate and well-intentioned. She was full of mirth, amidst her seriousness. She never spoke ill of anyone. When an appropriate occasion arose, she always spoke proudly of her immediate family – Wolfhart, SuJen, Einhard, Ken.
I am certain that where she is now, she is shining among the angels, and is so very happy. And why not? In her relatively short life, she has done a lot, achieved a lot, and in no small way as a children’s writer. In this world of children, she was always in touch with God.
Although she and I were supposed to make several small journeys together, and she was supposed to travel to see her relatives and friends, she has gone on a greater Journey, after fulfilling her life’s purpose.
If we celebrate the fulfilled life of this wonderful soul, and be happy with her, our hearts will be healed. And we will remember her in our thoughts as if she has not left us.
Like her paternal grandmother and father who went before, whom she deeply loved, and to whom she dedicated two of her books, she was full of a Mother’s Love.”
- Aileen Lim
Rest in Peace, Maggie – we will also miss your emails full of humour and always kind words of encouragement. Our deepest condolences to Wolfhart and the children from us in Kuching – Keng & family, Yong, See and Sydney.
[...] Margaret Lim, 23rd June 1947 – 8th May 2011 [...]
I am so sad to hear this news. Your work has touched my heart and I will always remember you. Rest in peace in heaven, Margaret. I love you.
I had the pleasure of meeting Margaret in person twice, and she impressed me as a most gracious person. My students asked me last weekend to recommend a local Malaysian writer of children’s books. Of course, I thought of Margaret. I sent them a link to her website, only to learn about her passing away. It has been a while since I heard from Margaret.
I will spend this night reading again Margaret’s books with my daughter, and remember this very lovely woman whose love for her land has touched so many of us.
Oh dear, this is a shock news to me. I knew Margaret through her blog and never had the chance to meet her. I’ve contacted with her a few times through this blog because I’m using her book as one of the corpus for my research as I’m a Masters students of Linguistic and English Language Studies, USM. I’ve completed my Masters last Tuesday, and want to share this great news with her because I feel that she’s one of the important pieces for my thesis….because without her book (Precious Jade & Turnip Head) along with useful information from her I’ll not able to complete my study. Even though we haven’t met, but through this blog, I feel that Margaret is really a great person. Malaysians lost one of their best writers especially for children’s literature.
My deepest condolences to her family-sha-