The Quiet Achiever Puts SIA in its Place

Mr?SIA?Fly Past

December 2014

By Ken Hickson

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd

Reviewed by Floyd Cowan

The cover of?Ken Hickson’s?Mr?SIA?– Fly Past?states ‘Introducing the life and times of a legend —?Lim Chin Beng?— who was the instrumental in the creation of?Singapore Airlines.’

Mr?SIA?– Fly Past?is what you would expect from the former aviation writer. This is a detailed and well-documented account of the life of Lim Chin Beng who served as?Managing Director of?SIA?for 10 years from the airline’s inception in October 1972. As Mr Lim had a long career at Singapore’s national carrier and its predecessors, it is only to be expected that the history of Singapore Airlines and the aviation industry would be well covered too.??

The?New Zealand?born author and editor knew Mr Lim and his family long before they collaborated on this book. Through many years of working with Mr Lim and encountering each other in different work roles they held over those years Mr Hickson is confident in calling him “a legend in international aviation. He was a visionary. He was a very articulate thinker.” Mr Lim is referred to as ‘the Quiet Achiever’ and the 230 pages supports all these assertions.

Mr Hickson has said, “I see the book as more of a ‘case study on business leadership’ which I agree with. The 23 chapters are mostly topics that cover significant stages and events in Mr Lim’s career.?‘Designer Days’ delves into the creation of the uniform for SIA’s flight crew. He covers this topic thoroughly, looking at it from all angles – and this chapter alone could be viewed as a case study. When you finally close the book, you have a very clear idea of the ins and outs of building every aspect of?SIA. You also go away being well-informed of the numerous other positions Mr Lim held.?

See and read the rest of Floyd Cowan's review in Asian Journeys: https://asianjourneys.com.sg/07-Jul-2021/the-quiet-achiever-puts-sia-in-its-place