Sunday 27 November 2022 01:44 PM Danny Lim became a cultural icon after a failed political career which saw him ... trends now
The first time colourful Sydneysider Danny Lim donned a sandwich board in protest was in 2004 when he set out to peacefully draw attention to a corruption scandal at Strathfield.
That sign read: 'Strathfield Council, have some morals! Stand down!'
The stunt angered some of Lim's local government representatives in the inner-west - one alderman came out of council chambers and ripped the placard off Lim's shoulders.
Four years later Lim ran for Strathfield Council as an independent, was elected, and served for two controversy-plagued years. Today he is something of a cultural icon.
Lim was back in the spotlight last week when he suffered a head injury while being detained at the Queen Victoria Building in the city's central business district.
From his first sandwich board too make a protest against a council corruption scandal in 2004 Danny Lim has developed into a peace activist (above) who loves to put a smile on people's faces
Danny Lim was seriously injured after police attempted to arrest him for allegedly refusing to move on when asked at Sydney's Queen Victoria Building on Tuesday. Lim had a brief political career in local government and unsuccessful stood for the federal and NSW parliaments
The 78-year-old was taken to St Vincent's Hospital at Darlinghurst on Tuesday after he was forced to the floor by two policemen and cracked his head on the tiles.
An investigation into Lim's attempted arrest is underway and he has since been reunited with Chihuahua/Pomeranian-cross Smarty, his constant companion.
Smarty featured prominently in Lim's campaign to 'Clean Up Council' when he promised the people of Strathfield 'openness, transparency, accountability and morality'.
Lim was raised by his Chinese grandmother in a small village about 90km from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur after being orphaned as an infant.
Lim has been a widely known and popular figure on the streets of Sydney for more than a decade, spreading his message of peace, love and happiness. He is the subject of this mural featured outside Cafe Giulia in Chippendale
With his sometimes risque messages (left) and zany get-up, Danny Lim has become a familiar figure in Sydney's CBD wearing his sandwich boards and large smiley faces (right) around town
As part of a Chinese ethnic minority he grew up amid institutionalised racial discrimination and moved to Australia aged 19 in 1963 on a student visa, later working as an electrical technician.
He retired at 59 and asked not to be paid when elected to represent the residents of a suburb he had lived in since the late 1970s.
During Lim's time in local government he was described as Sydney's most eccentric councillor and opponents called him 'barking mad'.
He won an Ernie Award for misogyny in 2009 after recommending council buy local Labor MP Virginia Judge a vibrator so she would 'stop screwing with the people of Strathfield and screw herself instead.'
Lim was raised by his Chinese grandmother in Malaysia before moving to Australia in 1963 and becoming an activist and street personality after retiring from his job as an electrical technician
Lim, 78, was taken to St Vincent's Hospital at Darlinghurst on Tuesday after he was forced to the tiled floor of the Queen Victoria Building by two policemen and cracked his head. That incident is pictured
He refused to be photographed for the council website or office and requested an image of Smarty be used instead.
These antics might have been amusing to some of his constituents but Lim's critics claimed Strathfield Council became dysfunctional due to his actions.
Lim features on the cover of the latest album by Sydney indie rock band Sticky Fingers
Holding the balance of power, Lim forced the roles of mayor and deputy mayor to be determined by a draw from a lolly jar when voting was deadlocked.
He inundated council staff with more than 100 motions and won a no confidence vote against the mayor.
Lim opposed the culling of feral cats and campaigned for the provision of bibles in council offices.
He quit the council after voters made death threats against him and Smarty.
Lim went on to run for the Senate at the 2016 federal election but received just 465 votes as an independent.
He had a tilt at a NSW upper house seat in 2019 and got only 644 votes after calling for pill testing at
