"In Conversation with CM Lim Guan Eng", a dialog event with the Chief Minister of Penang along with Mariam Mokhtar organised by The Monsoons Book Club London, London UK 12/07/2017.

Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Minister of Penang, is one of the most prominent figures of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) of Malaysia. Having enjoyed a career in banking, Lim ventured into politics to become a three-term Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Melaka.

His political career has not been without challenges. In 1987, he was detained without trial under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) in Operation Lalang along with 106 other politicians and activists, only to be released a year later.

He was jailed in 1994 under the Sedition Act 1948 for defending a Malay girl from Malacca, who was a victim in a statutory rape case. The alleged rapist was the Chief Minister of Malacca at the time.

The Pakatan Rakyat - a coalition of DAP, PKR (People's Justice Party) and PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamist Party) - won 29 of the 40 state seats in Penang in the 2008 Malaysian General Elections. With the DAP winning the most seats, Lim Guan Eng became the fourth Chief Minister of Penang, a position he retained following an even bigger victory in 2013 GE.

Under his tenure, the Penang state government introduced the Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) system of governance, several welfare aid initiatives were implemented, and the move towards a cleaner and greener Penang was started.