Called “Guli-Guli”, which means marbles in Malay, the cartoon strips ran regularly for five years, from 1982 to 1987, in the New Sunday Times.

The cartoons were social commentaries that were made through the humorous interaction of Bakar, Ah Boo and Muthu – representing the three main races of Malaysia.

The strips were designed to dispel racial distrust and encourage racial goodwill amongst Malaysia’s multi-racial community. The cartoon characters were often depicted in disagreement with each other but never in disharmony, never disavowing the bonds that bound them as one people.

The cartoon strips made such an impact on Malaysian society that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had just begun his tenure as the fourth Prime Minister, invited Lim to feature the famous three on billboards nationwide to foster racial harmony in 1983, according to a statement from Limkokwing University.

And that began a long and cordial relationship between Mahathir and Lim.

The statement said many Malaysian are unaware that the pioneering efforts of Lim include the breakthrough he created in getting local media to use cartoons by Malaysians.

His first attempts were published in the now defunct newspaper called Eastern Sun. The cartoon called ABU became Malaysian’s first local daily cartoon strip. Previously the newspapers only used cartoons created by foreign artists.

As the nation celebrate 52 years of Merdeka, Limkokwing University invites all Malaysians and foreign friends to view the exhibition titled “Guli-Guli, Limkokwing’s One Malaysia”, at Pavilion as well at its campus in Cyberjaya.