In 1963, Lim Kim San stepped down from the Housing Development Board (HDB) chairmanship only to step up politically. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had asked him to run in the General Election that year. Unlike the 1959 elections, which Lim had declined to contest, he agreed this time because he did not owe banks any money, there was someone who could run his family business, and he was convinced by the PAP's leadership's argument that corrupt politicians should not be allowed to decide Singapore's future. Lim ran, and won the Cairnhill constituency. Two ministers, Kenny Byrne and Tan Kia Gan, lost their seats. Lim told Lee that he did not want to hold political office because he had his work to attend to. But the party was short of people, and he was made Minister for National Development. He could not refuse. Moreover, he was told that his ministerial work was going to be temporary. As it turned out, he would hold a variety of ministerial portfolios for seventeen years.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

When Tan Kia Gan, the National Development Minister under whom Lim had served, lost his seat, Tan was appointed HDB Chairman in a reversal of places with Lim. Lim said that he would have supported Tan for the chairman's job because he knew his job and could work well. It is not that Lim had no reservations about Tan. He recalled an occasion when the minister tried to interfere with him and get him to agree to one of his friends coming in as a tenderer and give him a special concession. Tan brought Lim to lunch on a false pretext and he met some people. Lim made his displeasure clear. There was another instance when Tan wanted him to award a certain contract. Lim disagreed and told Tan that, as minister, he had the right to overrule him. However, “it never occurred to me that he was up to anything fishy”. Perhaps he was only trying to help a friend. So Lim would have recommended him for the HDB chairmanship because “when I am Minister and he is Chairman, there's no reason why I cannot control him if I wanted to.”