Kim Lim Says Good Character Matters More Than Straight As For 9-Year-Old Son Kyden

Billionaire heiress and entrepreneur Kim Lim and her nine-year-old son Kyden are the guests on the latest episode of 8days’ chat show DNA. In her candid chat with host Rebecca Lim, Kim opened up about her parenting style, why she prioritises character over straight As, and the very relatable reality of trying to get her son to speak Chinese.

Kyden shared that his favourite subject in school is Science, while his least favourite is Chinese — much to Kim’s dismay.

“His Chinese is so bad, he cannot speak it. When I try to speak to him [in Chinese], he replies me in English,” she lamented.

Turning to her son, she added: “I told you your Chinese must improve, it’s important.”

As for school life, Kyden confidently declared that he considers himself a good student because he “doesn’t get scolded” by his teachers.

Ironically, Kim revealed that she was the one who got “scolded” on the day of filming after letting Kyden skip school to appear on the show with her.

Her defence?

“I said he has to work!” she laughed.

Kim admitted she has received emails from Kyden’s teachers before about him being late or absent, but confessed she’s “super chill” when it comes to academics.

In fact, she insists she’s “not strict at all”.

While she wants Kyden to pass his exams, she’s never expected straight As, believing that values matter far more in the long run.

“Academics you can absorb anytime, I feel, but I think character building has to [start from] young. That’s why he’s very respectful of everybody, and this is one of my core values that I believe in,” Kim explained.

And unlike some parents, Kim isn’t about to impose standards she herself couldn’t live up to.

Describing herself as a “pretty chill” student growing up, she joked that she and Kyden are actually very alike in school.

“We both don’t like to study.”

When Becks teased, “Who likes to study?”, Kim immediately fired back: “I mean you’re super smart, you’re a super graduate and everything, you’re a natural. For us, we really must study.”

She added that Kyden attends plenty of tuition classes “just to try to keep to the standard”, before revealing she was exactly the same growing up.

“When I was younger, it was the same. I needed so much tuition, I remember having tuition until midnight every day,” she recalled.

Looks aside, it seems Kyden may have inherited more from Kim than expected — including her sporty side.

The young boy currently does swimming, badminton, tennis and padel, and loves travelling with his mum to snowy countries for ski trips.

Fondly recalling a family holiday to Japan, Kyden confidently declared that he’s “kinda good at skiing”, before cheekily adding that mummy “gets tired easily”.

Kim burst out laughing.

“I just want to lie down, chill on a holiday, no stress,” she said. “When we go on holiday, I ask my Japanese friends to take care of him, then I’ll chill with the food and wine and look at the snow.”

She admitted she has become far more cautious about skiing over the years.

“You know as we grow older, we get more worried about falling. Then you read about all the accidents and I get scared also,” she said.

Still, Kim insists she was once extremely athletic — something Becks found hard to imagine.

“I was super sporty!” Kim protested immediately.

And she came prepared with receipts.

“When I studied in London, my name was on the board one leh! Best in badminton for the year, tennis also okay. My swimming last time all got medals one.”

Kyden, however, looked deeply unconvinced.

Kim later admitted she had never really told him much about her sporty past, before trying to salvage her credibility.

“My medals all with ah gong. It’s at ah gong’s house. You ask ah gong to show you.”

But Kyden wasn’t buying it just yet.

“I know you won awards, but awards for Illumia, not sports.”

Photos: Mediacorp, kimlimhl/ Instagram

To watch the full episode, click here or scroll down to watch.