A simple detail spotted inside a Sydney bakery has captured the hearts of locals, perfectly summing up decades of hard work.
At Lim's Hot Bread in the northwest Sydney suburb of Eastwood, owners Mr and Mrs Lim have a poster proudly displayed near the entrance. It's an ad for their daughter Julianne Lim's legal practice — the same Julianne who often helped out in the shop across its 32-year history. When she was five years old, Julianne used to stand behind the counter on a milk crate and serve the customers. She had already decided she wanted to be a lawyer.
In those days, Mr and Mrs Lim were working seven days a week to get the business off the ground — Mr Lim often said it was “eight days a week,” because of the extra hours. Julianne, and then her younger brother Brandon, became fixtures at the shop on Saturdays so that they could spend time with their parents.
A Childhood of Hard Work and Gratitude
Julianne Lim says she has deep gratitude for her parents. “I remember my childhood being so fun and positive, but when I have conversations with mum as an adult, she's always felt some guilt because of the long hours and all the milestones missed,” Julianne tells news.com.au. “But being an adult myself now and also having children, I have such deep gratitude to them — because I know that all of this was their sacrifice and their love for us.”
Recently, the 32-year-old had a “full-circle moment” when she brought one of her young sons to the bakery and he stood behind the counter on a chair, just as she had done at his age. Having worked at the shop throughout her schooling and university, Julianne now runs Liberty Legal, a Sydney law firm specialising in family and criminal law. And 25-year-old Brandon is working at the bakery full-time, hoping to take over the business one day — to the joy of locals who admire his speedy sandwich-making skills.
The Remarkable Journey of Mr and Mrs Lim
Eastwood residents are touched at the Lims' gesture of displaying Julianne's poster in the shop, with one describing it as symbolic of the “immigrant Aussie dream”. That might be understating the remarkable odds that were stacked against the couple, both refugees from Southeast Asia, before they started the shop or even reached the lucky country.
At the age of 10, Mrs Lim fled war-ravaged southern Vietnam — without her parents — and travelled in a small boat to Malaysia. The vessel was eight days at sea and managed to evade Thai pirates thanks to a well-timed rainstorm. When the boat reached the Malaysian coast, it was only allowed to land if it was sinking. So passengers smashed a hole in the vessel and it went down, nearly drowning Mrs Lim, who spent six months in a camp before she was accepted into Australia in 1980.
Mr Lim landed here around the same time, having fled Pol Pot's tyrannical rule in Cambodia. Under the regime, he underwent forced labour and escaped by walking to Thailand. He still bears the scars of shrapnel from a landmine that went off near him while he worked in the fields.
From Refugees to Bakery Owners
Mr Lim was working as a printer in Australia, and Mrs Lim as a teacher, when her mother, who had reunited with her in Australia after two years apart, suggested they buy the bakery. Julianne says their entrepreneurship inspired her to begin her own venture decades later. “They just dived into it, learnt as they went and were able to grow over time,” says the lawyer, who still stops by to work in the shop — at a laptop rather than the till — after court appearances. “It's a second home to me,” she says. “I've learnt so much working here and also just observing how my parents are; they are so hardworking, they're resilient, but they're also so warm and kind.”
It's a family affair when news.com.au visits the bakery on a busy Friday — the Lim parents and Brandon behind the counter, Julianne at her laptop and her 83-year-old grandmother in the thick of it. And as for the banh mi — one patron has described them as “up there with the best in Sydney”. We recommend the crispy pork.
