Sim Hu
MalaysiaBiography of Sim Wong Hoo
Sim Wong Hoo, the founder and chairman of Creative Technology, a Singaporean company specializing in hardware for computers and digital players, is best known as the creator of the Sound Blaster audio system - the first sound card for personal computers. Sim Wong Hoo was born in Malaysia in 1957 and later moved to Singapore, where he graduated from the Electronics Engineering faculty at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. In July 1981, Sim Wong Hoo and his classmate Ng Kai Wa opened a small workshop in Singapore. Originally named Creative, the company initially focused on servicing and repairing computers.
Parallel to repairing computers, Sim Wong Hoo worked on his own developments and created an additional memory module for the popular Apple II machines, which had high demand at the time. The first major success for Sim Wong Hoo and Creative came in 1986 with the creation of a single-chip sound system, a precursor to modern sound cards. Prior to Sim Wong Hoo's invention, personal computers relied on "PC speakers" that could only produce one sound at a time. The new device became the first of its kind for personal computers, capable of processing complex sound effects and playing music in stereo.
In 1992, based on their own developments, Sim Wong Hoo and the specialists at Creative created the Sound Blaster 16 sound card, which set the standard for PC sound systems for many years. Today, Creative continues to release sound card series under this brand (such as the semi-professional Sound Blaster Audigy or the ones designed for modern computer games, Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty). Creative remains one of the largest producers of sound cards for PCs. In 2002, at the age of 45, Sim Wong Hoo became the youngest billionaire in Singapore. His achievements were recognized in his homeland with two "Businessman of the Year" awards in 1992 and 1997.
