Jamus Lim answering kids’ “hard” questions with wisdom and warmth

Recently, Jamus Lim, a Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC, was invited to be on The Singapore Women’s Weekly to share his thoughts on fatherhood.

To commemorate Father’s Day 2023, The Singapore Women’s Weekly interviewed four Singaporean celebrity parents to gather their perspectives on work-family balance, their playful side with their children, and how they handle dad guilt.

In a snippet of the interview posted on the lifestyle media’s official Facebook page, the Associate Professor was seen answering questions from Gen Alpha, the youngest Singaporeans.

Kid asked if Jamus Lim can marry her mother

While the 47-year-old Workers’ Party MP is known as an expert at asking questions in Parliament, it seems he faced a series of “tough questions” posed by children from all over Singapore.

Asst Prof Lim, a father to a 3.5-year-old daughter, was confronted with a question from a four-year-old girl, Grace: “My mummy really likes you. Will you marry her, please?”

In reply, Asst Prof Lim said, “Oh Grace, I am very, very flattered. I’m sure that your mummy also really, really loves your daddy. So I will not get in the way of that.”

“And I guess I should point out that I really love my wife too.”

“So I think we’ll just stick to our respective mummies and daddies.”

“Ask the right doctor”

Another five-year-old child named Siti asked Jamus Lim if he is a doctor and if he could help her cure her runny nose.

Asst Prof Lim clarified that while he is a “doctor,” he doesn’t cure people in that sense.

“So you got to be careful when you ask for help from a doctor. To make sure you ask for help from the right ones.”

Asst Prof Lim did provide Siti with advice on how to cure a runny nose, suggesting she take medicine, get plenty of sleep, and drink water, assuring her that she would recover.

Asst Prof Lim is not a medical doctor per se, but an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School. He holds three master’s degrees and one doctoral degree, including a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University from 2014 to 2015.

Shows off Mandarin

Another child asked Asst Prof Lim if he could speak Mandarin. In response, Lim said he would tell his daughter the following phrase in Mandarin: “If you don’t finish your dinner, then you won’t be allowed to watch cartoons.”

The snippet also featured Asst Prof Lim admitting that he has myopia and wears contact lenses in response to a question about why he doesn’t wear glasses and whether it’s because he isn’t clever.

Asst Prof Lim even went further to comfort the kid, “Just because someone doesn’t wear glasses it doesn’t mean that they’re not clever. ”

“So, if you are not wearing any glasses, keep your eyesight well and don’t worry about not being clever enough, because I’m sure you are.”

A kid asked Jamus Lim if monsters are real

When asked if monsters are real, Asst Prof Lim replied, “You have no idea how deep this question truly is.”

“I think monsters capture our deepest fears and insecurities.”

“And I’m afraid that in this world, there are indeed monsters, ” however, Asst Prof Lim assured to the kid that the fear can be overcome.

“It can sometimes take significant self-control to get her to do things without blowing up,” he revealed.

However, Asst Prof Lim emphasized the incredible sweetness their daughter possesses.

“she would sidle up to us and hug us for no reason, and say she loves us, or she could try to feed us with something she herself enjoys, or just by being herself when she laughs and plays, she can bring such tremendous joy to those around her.”

Despite the challenges, Asst Prof Lim firmly believes that being a parent is worth every moment. He acknowledged that the journey isn’t always straightforward, but the fulfillment it brings is unmatched.

” While I won’t pretend that the journey has always been simple or easy, it has been enormously fulfilling, and on net, there is no question that being a father is a wonderful, incomparable experience. ”

“I would not trade my daughter for anything else in the world.”