“I wonder who had come up with the idea. I think these are mere speculations. Before any election, this thing comes up.

“Anyhow, I am in Penang for the new year holidays. The party decides where to field candidates,” he told FMT.

Since the new year, Penang has seen a spike in “Lim sightings”, with the DAP parliamentary leader spotted at nearly 10 press conferences.

He also kicked-off the first of the “Jelajah Desa Bersama Kit Siang” series in Kampung Tok Suboh in Bukit Mertajam last Saturday.

The following day, Lim held another Jelajah Desa session in Kampung Sungai Gelugor on the island. After a walkabout, he announced that he was willing to cooperate with PAS if that was what it took to be rid of a “kleptocratic” regime.

Lim, 75, is no stranger to Penang politics, having served as a state assembly member for Kampong Kolam from 1986 to 1990 and Padang Kota from 1990 to 1995.

Lim was the Tanjong MP from 1986 to 1999.

He also served stints as state assembly member and MP in Malacca, Selangor and Perak.

Lim is currently the Gelang Patah MP. He beat former Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman of Umno to win the seat in the 2013 general election.

The move by Lim, the then incumbent Ipoh Timur MP, to contest Gelang Patah was viewed with great excitement as it was part of the DAP strategy for some of its stalwarts to leave their strongholds to challenge the BN in its strongholds.

Penangites are most likely to remember him as ‘Robocop’ in the 1995 electoral campaign, especially as the strategy proved a failure and was largely blamed for DAP’s disastrous showing at the polls.

There were posters and cutouts of him looking like the Robocop in the 1987 movie of the same name.