#trending: Singaporeans pay tribute to tech pioneer Sim Wong Hoo, recall fond memories of iconic Creative products
Singapore's technology pioneer Sim Wong Hoo, who was chairman and chief executive officer of Creative Technology, died on Wednesday (Jan 4).
SINGAPORE — Sim Wong Hoo, the founder of Singaporean multinational company Creative Technology, died on Wednesday (Jan 4) at the age of 67.
Beginning in 1981 as a computer repair shop at Pearl's Centre in Chinatown, the company is now famous worldwide for its Sound Blaster sound cards and other digital entertainment products.
Also known as Creative Labs in the United States, it was the first Singaporean company to list on American stock exchange Nasdaq and has overseas offices in cities abroad such as Shanghai in China, Tokyo in Japan, Dublin in Ireland and Silicon Valley in the US.
On Thursday, Creative Labs updated its Facebook and website cover photo with an image of Sim as well as the years of his birth and death.
Online users have also taken to social media to pay tribute to the tech pioneer, even dubbing him as "Singapore's Steve Jobs".
On Facebook and online forum Reddit, people reminisced on how they "grew up with Creative products" such as the Zen, Muvo and Nomad MP3 players.
Others fondly talked about products that they used in school, such as the combination PC-piano keyboard Prodikeys and Creative's Chinese e-dictionary — which one Reddit user declared had "helped save (students with their) O-Level Chinese paper".
Former Creative Technology employees have gone online to praise the "visionary leader".
One Facebook user who claimed to have worked in the company in the early days of Sound Blaster wrote: "These innovations don't come to market without understanding and forward vision.
"He was an integral part of multimedia and helped unlock key use cases around the PC. Such a pioneer."
Another spoke of Sim's warmth, calling him "the best boss (she) ever had".
"You treated everyone like family and (was) always so kind and generous," she said. "You will be deeply missed."
Even for the younger generations who may not have been old enough during the advent of MP3 players in the early 2000s, Sim and his innovations appeared to have moved them.
One aspiring tech worker wrote: "You have been an inspiration since my primary school days when we had a school tour to visit the Creative building.
"You've set the image of what a technopreneur is for me and inspired me to go through polytechnic (just like you did) before starting my career in tech."
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY'S MILESTONES
Since it was founded 41 years ago, Creative Technology has released a slew of products and swept up multiple accolades.
Here are some key milestones that the company has achieved over the years.
July 1, 1981: Sim Wong Hoo launches Creative Technology.
October 1986: The company introduces the Cubic 99, the first personal computer (PC) to be designed and produced in Singapore.
August 1987: The company introduces the Creative Music System, a 12-voice stereo music synthesiser card with a variety of music software to support it.
August 1988: It markets the Creative Music System, which was followed rapidly by the launch of Game Blaster, a full stereo sound board for PC.
November 1989: The Sound Blaster, a PC sound card, is launched, enabling audio capabilities for a computer.
December 1990: The Sound Blaster becomes the top-selling electronic component for the PC market.
August 1992: The company is listed on the US Nasdaq stock market, offering 4.8 million shares at US$12 a share.
June 1994: The company debuts its shares on the Singapore Exchange
August 1995: Creative Technology launches the world's first 3D game card, 3D Blaster.
December 1999: It announces the launch of personal digital entertainment solutions, which include the Nomad line of portable audio devices.
December 2002: The company is ranked second after Singapore Airlines in the Review 200 annual survey on Asia's Leading Companies (Singapore), conducted by the Far Eastern Economic Review.
January 2003, 2004 and 2005: The company sweeps the Best of CES award in two categories — audio and visual product, and home audio product — for three consecutive years during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, US.
August 2005: It is awarded a US patent for its invention of the user interface for portable media players.
Known as the Zen Patent, it covers the user interface that enables users of portable media players to efficiently and intuitively navigate and select tracks on the players.
2006: The company wins a US$100 million settlement after suing Apple for patent infringements over Apple's music player iPod.
January 2006: The company again wins the Best of CES award for the audio and visual product category at the Consumer Electronics Show with its latest Zen Vision:M MP3 player. It also clinches the top honour with the Best in Show award.
March 2006: Creative Technology sets up its first retail concept store at Marina Square mall in Singapore.
June 2007: The Zen Stone line of lightweight MP3 players that can store up to 1,000 songs is introduced.
January 2017: Creative’s Sonic Carrier sound-bar bags the Best of Cedia award. Cedia is a global organisation for the smart home technology industry.
January 2018: Creative launches Super X-Fi, a "game-changing technology that allows headphone users to enjoy unprecedented 3D holographic audio". Sim said the technology was the culmination of some 20 years of research and development costing some US$100 million.
Sim was single, with no known partner or children.
In a 2019 interview with Yahoo Finance Singapore, he cheekily advised budding entrepreneurs not to get married.
“Once you have family and commitment, you can't afford to take the risks," he explained. "I can take risks because I have no family."
The eccentric businessman also had a passion for music. A 2004 USA Today news report said that he had amassed a collection of 130 harmonicas.
The unconventional Prodikeys, a part of Creative Technology's product line, was born out of a dream that Sim had one night in which he "could teach the world how to play the piano".
If everyone could have a piano for the price of a computer keyboard, he thought, everyone would be able to learn and make music.
Though the product underperformed, his dream to make musical instruments more accessible was still realised.
One Reddit user said that thanks to Sim's own donations to a secondary school, "all of us (at the school) had some form of piano lessons, learning efficacy notwithstanding".
Even though Creative Technology had global success with its Sound Blaster products, it also faced its fair share of criticism for being over-dependent on its key product, showing a lack of inspiration and “losing touch with market realities”, a 2011 Business Times report said.
However, in the eyes of many Singaporeans, Sim has left a lasting legacy as a tech "legend" with his rags-to-riches story and impact on the technology industry here.
