Tan Sri Dato Dr. Lim Goh Tong was a prominent wealthy Malaysian Chinese businessman. He was renowned for his vision and courage in transforming Genting Highlands from an unexplored hilltop into one of the world's most successful casino resorts. He was once the richest man in Malaysia, Asia with net worth US$4.2billion. He was born in the year of 1918 in Anxi, a mountainous county in southeastern Fujian province, China. Lim Goh Tong was the fifth child in his family. His father was Lim Shi Quan and his mother Goh Ban. He had an elder brother by the name of Jing Ya, three elder sisters who were Lim Zhuang, Lim Bau and Lim See, a younger sister, Lim Mei and a younger brother, Jing Kun. Lim Goh Tong was married to Lee Kim Hua. Together they had six children and nineteen grandchildren. The six children are Lim Siew Lay, Siew Lian, Siew Kim, Tee Keong, Kok Thay and Chee Wah.
Lim was born into a rustic environment in a village. During that time, China was in a period of turmoil and unrest after the 1911 revolution, but life was relatively sheltered for Lim in the village. He grew up peacefully and had the opportunity of studying in school. However, disaster struck as his father died when he was only sixteen years old. Lim was forced to leave school and he and his elder brother had to take over the heavy burden of feeding his family.
As China's situation was becoming worse, Lim Goh Tong decided to take the plunge in venturing out to Malaysia which was known as Malaya at that time by following his cousin,
Lim Kheng Chong's footstep. He left China through Xiamen in early February 1937 at the age of nineteen. He worked for his uncle as a carpenter in the first two years, learning the Malay language in the meantime. The Japanese invaded Malaya in 1942 and caused Lim to have a few near-death experiences. During the early Japanese Occupation, he earned a living as a vegetable farmer but decided to switch to petty trading for a