Artist, educator and entrepreneur Lim Kok Wing dies, aged 75
The university founder had been hospitalised after suffering a fall.
PETALING JAYA: Artist, entrepreneur and educationalist Lim Kok Wing, perhaps best known for the universities that bear his name, has passed away.
An aide to Lim confirmed this today but declined to provide further details.
Last week, it was reported that Lim had been hospitalised after suffering a fall but was in stable condition.
Lim began his career as an illustrator, and was the pen behind Malaysia and Singapore’s first locally produced serialised comic strip, ABU, which ran in the now defunct Eastern Sun newspaper.
He then moved into advertising where, after five years with McCann-Erickson, he started his own company, Wings Creative Consultants, the first professional Malaysian agency, in 1975.
In less than three years, the company became one of the top agencies in the country and, in 1988, it partnered with global giants BBDO, one of the largest multinational creative agencies in the world.
In 1991, Lim turned his attention to education, founding the Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology which, in 2002, became the first private college to be recognised as a university college. It was later renamed the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology.
Over the years, the university has attained global recognition, with the Limkokwing name spreading its wings to other parts of the world. In addition to its flagship campus in Cyberjaya, there are locations in Sarawak, Cambodia, Botswana, Sierra Leone, and the United Kingdom.
According to its website, tens of thousands of students from over 165 countries have passed through the doors of its various campuses.
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In a statement, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology said they were humbled by the “loving condolences and support extended by so many,” and asked for privacy as they mourned their founder’s death.