Sim Wong Hoo is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Creative Technology, the homegrown tech firm that revolutionised computer gaming audio with its standalone Sound Blaster sound cards in 1989. Creative Technology also produces various other entertainment accessories such as headphones, webcams, soundbars, speakers and gaming headsets.

Armed with a diploma in electrical engineering from the then Ngee Ann Technical College, Sim founded Creative Technology with his schoolmate, Ng Kai Wa, in 1981. Its fortunes skyrocketed with the launch of the wildly popular Sound Blaster sound cards, which quickly set the standard for PC audio. In 1992, Creative became the first Singapore company to list on Nasdaq (it has since delisted), and two years later applied for a secondary listing on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Along with the rest of the tech world, Creative Technology’s revenue has been negatively impacted by the “uncertain economic conditions, high energy costs, rising inflation rates and the on-going global supply chain disruptions”, causing the company’s sales to fall 28 per cent year on year to US$34.1 million in the first half of 2022.

On the bright side, in 2021 Creative Technology released the third generation of its Super X-Fi product, a dongle that turns ordinary headphones into a full surround-sound set-up. The product is 20 years in the making and has an R&D outlay of over US$100m. Super X-Fi has already clinched several awards, including 15 at the 2019 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show. In 2022, the brand launched eight new products, including the Creative Zen Hybrid wireless headphones, Creative Stage Air V2 soundbar and Sound Blaster X1 headphone amplifier which is engineered with the heralded Sound Blaster Acoustic Engine technology and award-winning Super X-Fi Headphone Holography first seen in the iconic SXFI AMP.

Sim Wong Hoo died on January 4, 2023, at the age of 67. His death was officially announced by the Creative board of directors in a Singapore Exchange filing, which read, “On behalf of all staff of the Company, the Board expresses its deepest sorrow over the death of Mr Sim and conveys its condolences to his family. The Board also expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the immense contributions to the Company by Mr Sim during his tenure as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.”