Industrial Court Orders Perak FC To Pay RM1.04 Million To Ex-Coach Lim Teong Kim

IPOH, Aug 10 (Bernama) -- The Industrial Court of Malaysia has ordered Perak FC Sdn Bhd to pay RM1.04 million in compensation to former head coach Datuk Lim Teong Kim following the team management’s decision to prematurely terminate his contract. 

Court Chairman J. Paramalingam in his 60 page judgment stated that Lim is entitled to compensation for the unexpired portion of his fixed term employment contract. 

He said that as there was still 16 months remaining  under the fixed-term contract, Lim is entitled to compensation amounting to RM1.04 million, derived from his monthly salary of RM65,000, multiplied by the remaining duration of the contract.

"The claimant (Lim) has also claimed for the cost of three return business class tickets from Munich (Germany)-Kuala Lumpur-Munich valued in total at EUR15,477.81 or RM76,471.39 as at June 12, 2025, as was contractually agreed under the Employment Contract. 

"However, this is a contractual claim which ought to be explored via a civil suit rather than under an unfair dismissal claim at the Industrial Court.

Paramalingam stated that even Lim's employment contract provides for the calculation of compensation in the event the contract is brought to a premature end through no fault of Lim but eventhough it was a fixed-term two-year employment (from Sept 15, 2022 until Sept 14, 2024), the contract was terminated on May 24, 2023, just eight months into the contract. 

"Due to the nature of the claimant’s employment contract being a fixed-term employment contract, there can be no reinstatement under the circumstances as the said contract had come to an end by effluxion of time," he said.

Paramalingam said, the Perak FC Sdn Bhd pulled the plug on Lim’s appointment eight months into his contract and had the audacity to contend that the claimant was “ill-equipped to fulfil the high-performance expectations in his role as a head coach,” when it was rather the company’s ineptitude in properly running a football club that had unravelled the engagement.

"The court is of the view that the company’s action in terminating the claimant’s employment contract based on the unsatisfactory performance of the Perak FC team was premature under the circumstances and was done without just cause or excuse," he said.

Paramalingam said taking Perak FC’s performance as a whole, eight months into Lim’s employment contract, and almost mid-point through the 2023 season, Perak FC was in the 11th position, just two rungs below the target of ninth position set for the 2023 season. 

He added that at the point of termination of Lim’s employment, the target set (ninth position for the 2023 season) was still very much attainable and the Perak FC’s knee-jerk reaction to prematurely end his employment mid-way through the 2023 season reeks of mala fide.

The court noted that the action was done solely on commercial reasoning, wherein the company’s finances had been impacted due to Perak FC’s dwindling fortune even before Lim was appointed as Perak FC head coach. 

"When the company appointed the claimant, they were well aware that it was going to be a long and arduous task of restoring glory back to Perak football but even before he could fully produce the results required for the 2023 season, he was sacked," he said. 

Lim was represented by Edward Andrew Saw Keat Leong and Jerry Low Kok Kiang, while Perak FC were represented by lawyer Weera Premananda and Ooi Zi Qin (Paralegal).

On June 27, 2023, Lim filed a representation with the Perak Department of Industrial Relations Malaysia (JPPM) regarding the wrongful termination of his contract by the Perak FC and asked for the remaining 16 months of his salary to be paid.

-- BERNAMA