Lim Eu Ming

Thomson Geer Law Firm Property and Development Partner

When you think “commercial property lawyer”, someone in a suit, clean cut hair and sleek court shoes would play the stereotypical part. But Lim Eu Ming is not that stereotype, well, aside from the suit, he dons a grungy rock star look and long wavy locks.

Originally from Malaysia, Melbourne has been home to Lim for over 20 years together with his vast experience in practicing property and development law in this thriving city.

His primary focus is commercial property, with particular expertise and experience in a variety of property and property related matters. He is now a partner of Thomson Geer, a distinguished law firm specialising in areas of banking and finance, corporate advisory, constructions and projects, intellectual property and more. But in all honesty, it’s not Lim’s professional career that makes him impressionable, it’s his down to earth philosophy to life.

“I’m just a regular guy –  I don’t come from a rich family where my father handed me the business so I just had to be resilient and persistent. I have two boys and one of them is autistic, so that challenges what we can do as a family and what I can do as a father. Migrating to Melbourne to study was challenging, but when I returned to Malaysia and decided to come back here in the early 90’s, that’s when it was pretty difficult,” he said.

Originally from Penang, Lim grew up in Kuala Lumpur (KL). His choice to study in Australia in 1980 was one made by his parents due to the “lower” education fees in comparison to the UK, Lim’s first preference.

“Coming to Melbourne at that time was really alien to me as it was predominantly an Anglo society and I just thought the city was like the South Pole, until I got here. It was good because I studied law here for five years and it gave me a chance to assimilate well with the Australian culture.”

In 1985, he decided to move back to KL but after four years, returned to Melbourne for personal reasons. When his family moved here, he started his career by working in boutique law firms.

After almost three decades, he has assisted in over $800 million of commercial and development site acquisitions in Melbourne from 2012 to 2014 financial years. He also advised and assisted at all relevant levels of property development in Melbourne (especially 7 to 9 multi-storey development projects in the Melbourne CBD) from 2012 to 2014 financial years.

For Lim, it’s really his core values that kept him going and has him in check with reality.

“When we moved to Melbourne, it wasn’t a great time because of my son’s autism and Australia was slowly slipping into a recession. But because we struggled a bit, it helps us to appreciate what we have now and that hard work and sacrifice do pay off in the end,” he said.

当你对“商业房地产律师”还停留在西装笔挺、整齐短发和发亮鞋履既定外观印象时，Lim Eu Ming 将打破这一切刻板感觉：就外形而论，他完全是一名摇滚明星，一头桀骜不羁的波浪长发。

出生于马来西亚，但他已经定居墨尔本逾20年，在这个繁荣都市，伴随着实践房产与开发律法的丰富经历。

他的主要重点是商业房地产，具备专业知识和经验，为客户解决各式产业或相关事务。他加入合作伙伴Thomson Geer著名的律师事务所，专门从事银行金融业、企业，建筑和项目计划，包括知识产权等特定服务。但坦白说，让人钦佩的并非是他的专业工作精神，而是朴实的生活哲理。

生于槟城，长于吉隆坡，在1980年选择留学澳大利亚是因为教育费比英国低廉，这是他所考量的。

“对当时的我来说墨尔本非常陌生，由于是英式社会，觉得这个城市就像南极，直至我适应。在这里就读5年的法律，也提供机会不断吸收澳大利亚文化。”

1985年，他决定在吉隆坡工作，而在4年后因个人原因返回墨尔本。在家人迁移到此处后，他开始在精品律师事务所工作。

“我只是一个普通人，也非来自富裕家庭，父亲传给我的家业，我竭尽所能坚韧守护。我有2名孩子，其中一名是自闭症患者，这是对我们维持一个家庭和我身为父亲的重大考验。来到墨尔本升学虽然也是挑战，至于90年代早期从马来西亚又回到这里，那个时段是艰辛的。”

根据2012年至2014年墨尔本财政年报告，他在30多年来协助逾8亿元的商业和开发产业收购，同时建议与辅助墨尔本各级房地产开发计划，尤其是在墨尔本CBD的7至9项多层开发项目。

对于LimEuMing来说，真的是核心价值观使他坚持下去，并且检阅现实。

“但我们刚迁移到墨尔本，那是艰苦时刻，因为我儿子的自闭症，还有澳大利亚面临逐渐滑落衰退。但就是因为历经寒冬，更让我们珍惜现在的一切，努力工作和牺牲都是值得的。”