Singaporeans mourn passing of Sim Wong Hoo, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Creative Technology

SINGAPORE — Creative Technology announced on Thursday, Jan 5, that its Founder, Chairman and CEO, Mr Sim Wong Hoo, had passed away peacefully the day before.

The news of his death came as a shock to many, as the 67-year-old Mr Sim had been believed to be in good health and had even done marathons.

Creative Technology, famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards, was founded by Mr Sim in 1981.

In 1992 it became the first firm from Singapore to list shares on the Nasdaq, and eight years later, Mr Sim became the country’s youngest billionaire.

And in 2006, he famously took on Apple, with Creative winning a $100 million settlement in 2006 after it filed a lawsuit against the tech giant in 2006 due to patent infringements over the iPod.

The company’s interim CEO, Song Siow Hui, called Mr Sim’s passing “a sad and sudden development” in a statement issued on Jan 5.

There has also been an outpouring of condolences on Reddit Singapore, and it appears that Mr Sim was a tech hero to many.

A Redditor who used to work at Creative had this to say:

“He is a pretty nice boss, although eccentric sometimes. He has been very active in sports and really didn’t expect this. Whenever i hear the word “sound card”, Soundblaster always come into my mind. His legacy will continue to live on. RIP.”

One netizen called him “arguably Singapore’s first… IT entrepreneur with global success.”

Another mentioned the donations Mr Sim had made to his secondary school.

“Dude donated a fair bit of stuff, including piano keyboards that are connected to PC, to his (my) old sec sch. All of us had some form of piano lessons, learning efficacy notwithstanding.”

One Reddit user shared a YouTube clip called “Funky Creative Prodikeys Demonstration” that featured the late CEO.

Others waxed nostalgic over the products from Creative that helped shape their lives, including MP3 players and sound cards.

As a Reddit user wrote, “Sim Wong Hoo was a true 🇸🇬 trailblazer. RIP.”

/TISG

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