Cambodian immigrant's plan: 'My businesses have been what I like to do'

BIO BOX

Casey Lim Age:40 Business:Casey's Food and Spirits Location:91 Douglas Ave., Holland Homeland:Cambodia Arrived:1979 He said:"My childhood is like the movie 'The Killing Fields'"

By Myron Kukla | The Grand Rapids Press

January 01, 2010,

Octavian Cantilli | The GrandRapids PressCasey Lim operates Casey's Food and Spirits at 91 Douglas Ave. in Holland Township.

E-mail the author of this story: localnews@grpress.com
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HOLLAND TOWNSHIP -- For Casey Lim, the United States will always be the land that gave his family a new life and a chance to be whatever they wanted to be.

In 1979, he arrived in Holland at age nine with his mother Yi Chauv and six siblings, all refugees from Cambodia and its Communist Khmer Rouge.

They landed in Holland under the sponsorship of Faith Christian Reformed Church of Holland.

"My childhood is like the movie "The Killing Fields" with piles of dead bodies of people killed by the Khmer Rouge," said Lim, 40, who said he has never had a desire to return to his homeland.

These days he is a businessman who in November launched his second Holland-area business, Casey's Food and Spirits at 91 Douglas Ave., featuring American and Asian cuisine.

"My businesses have been what I like to do. I started the Q Stick Café in Holland on 24th Street because I was a pool player.

"I started Casey's because I like to cook and have a passion for food and everybody says I should have a restaurant," he said.

He sold the Q Stick in 2004.

Lim gives credit to his mother for his success in business. She worked at the Heinz pickle factory in Holland, taking all the overtime she could get.

"She moved us to California in 1988 and opened a donut shop and taught us all, one-by-one, how to do everything and run a successful business," said Lim who returned to Holland in 1999.

When it was time for Casey -- whose Cambodian given name was Chay -- to become a U.S. citizen in 2001, he decided he needed a real American name.

"I always listened to Casey Kasem on the radio and I liked the name, so when I became a citizen I became Casey."