Singapore tech pioneer Lim Kia Hong dies at 67

SINGAPORE – Mr Lim Kia Hong, 67, a pioneer in Singapore’s information technology sector with a career spanning more than four decades, died on Aug 11 (US time) in New York City while on a business trip.

A co-founder of SIS Technologies, he started the business bringing in big brands from more advanced markets and selling both the hardware and software to businesses and institutions in Singapore and the region.

And over four decades, Mr Lim – or KH, as he was known to his contemporaries – grew the small family-held company in Singapore into a group of professionally managed and publicly traded regional businesses.

Among the listed companies that Mr Lim was instrumental in setting up were SIS International Group, as well as SIS Mobile Holdings on the Hong Kong Exchange; SIS Distribution on the Stock Exchange of Thailand; and Information Technology Consultants on both the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses.

For the full year till end December 2023, SIS International posted net profit of HK$160.4 million (S$27.11 million) and revenue of HK$9.07 billion.

“KH’s business success was through discipline and sheer doggedness. There were no handouts from the Government,” noted Ms Grace Chng, the former editor of Digital Life at The Straits Times who covered the birth of the IT sector.

She had interviewed Mr Lim multiple times over the years, and they had many conversations just “talking shop”. Like many of his work associates, they became friends over the years.

Industry stalwart Natasha Kwan, who held leadership roles at Microsoft for two decades from the early 1990s, described him as a friend and “a true pioneer in IT distribution”.

“In the 1980s, when PC technology was just beginning to shape our world, KH was a bold visionary, navigating uncharted waters with a passion and determination that inspired all who had the privilege to work alongside him.

“Through his transformative and strategic foresight, KH not only advanced the realm of IT and mobile phone distribution, but also extended further to create immense value for his company.”

Mr Lim’s origin story began upon his return from the United States, having earned a degree in business administration from the University of Washington, focusing on marketing and information systems.

During national service, he helped with a computerisation project at the Ministry of Defence (Mindef), sourcing computer-related items from the US.

He realised quickly that there were significant market gaps, as computer-related equipment and peripherals were not readily available in Singapore back then.

The connections he made as he completed that Mindef project put him in good stead when he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey.

“He had learnt about PCs in the US and wanted to get into the business. He had a table in his father’s office,” said Ms Chng.

Subsequently, he started up SIS Technologies in 1983 with $100,000 in seed money from his father, who was in the sugar business.

However, IT was still not an established sector nor a traditional business at that time.

“Convincing his father and family was probably not easy. But small experiments saw early signs of success, and they continued to support his determination to grow the IT distribution business,” said Gartner Advisory senior executive partner Ben Tan, himself a veteran in the business and technology sector.

Mr Lim was credited with bringing many tech companies to Singapore and the rest of Asia through his distributorship. He managed to convince the brands to take advantage of his distribution network as a way to make inroads into the South-east Asian region.

“It helped that KH was very personable, educated in the US and understood technology well. As such, he could persuade many tech vendors to come to Singapore,” Mr Tan said.

Among the software brands Mr Lim brought into the region were Adobe Illustrator, Aldus Pagemaker, Harvard Graphics, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase and WordPerfect.

Mr Tan recounted: “At that time, I was just a product manager at Microsoft, and he spent quite a bit of time with me to ensure critical initiatives were successful, such as the launch of Microsoft Windows XP and many more.”

Ms Chng recalled that “in the 1990s, there was a lot of pirated stuff in the domestic market”, adding: “KH helped to build the PC ecosystem, distributing global products – genuine products.”

Mr Abdul Rahman, a former public relations consultant who worked with Mr Lim, said: “KH added depth to the fledgling IT retail industry, by adding a home-grown IT product distribution network. With SIS, local PC dealers, value-added resellers and solution providers have access to a strong local distributor.”

Mr Saw Ken Wye, a former vice-president and managing director of Microsoft Singapore, noted that “SIS is built on the foundation of Mr Lim’s family members. His wife, Milly, complemented his business acumen”.

Mr Lim leaves behind his wife, who is a homemaker, and four children – sons Lik Xian and Lik Rong, and daughters Lik Shi and Lik Qi.

“Despite being in a business with cut-throat margins, he was able to build and grow the business,” said Mr Saw, who had been friends with Mr Lim since 1997.

Mr Saw added: “He had a keen eye for opportunities too, I recall KH being an early investor in MediaRing – possibly the biggest listing success in Singapore during that period.”

MediaRing was a pioneering Singapore-based internet and telecommunications company that was listed in 1999 under new rules allowing “loss-making” technology companies to go public, generating significant excitement as a result.

Mr Lim also diversified his business into real estate and asset management in 2015. “He was also quick to pivot to new opportunities, investing heavily in Japanese properties,” Mr Saw noted.

At a regional level, Mr Lim was “a prominent voice and advocate for Singapore and Asia within the industry”, said Mr Ananth Lazarus, managing director of Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) in charge of the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan.

GTDC is a global industry association representing the world’s leading technology distributors that counted Mr Lim as one of its founding members.

Mr Lazarus described Mr Lim as “a doyen of the tech distribution ecosystem in Asia, given the depth of his knowledge, his experiences and his sheer passion, which were outstanding”. 

Ms Kwan recalled: “His relentless pursuit of his vision was always tempered by kindness and respect for those around him, making him a well respected figure in our industry.

“I will always cherish his warm smile, even in challenging moments, which was capable of uplifting spirits.”

Mr Saw recalled that Mr Lim liked to fish. “We’d bump into each other at the local freshwater ponds. He was always lucky, he never failed to land a big haul of fish. I will miss his laugh, smile and, above all, his love for people and life.”

He described Mr Lim as “a quintessential modern Chinese businessman, blending East and West”, while Mr Rahman said Mr Lim “managed to blend traditional Chinese business style with modern business and management techniques”.

Ms Chng said: “Every year I would receive a box of Japanese apples for Lunar New Year, delivered by his driver long after I left ST. They don’t make businessmen like him any more.”

Commenting on his legacy, Ms Chng and Mr Rahman said Mr Lim had often talked about starting a technology museum to house the PC hardware and software that mapped the global PC industry’s history.

In his personal collection, Mr Lim had a large hoard of the various products his company distributed over the years held in storage.

“He nurtured his PC museum dream. He called it a bucket list project. I hope his dream will become a reality one day, at least to honour his memory,” said Mr Rahman.

Correction note: An earlier version of the story said that Mr Lim died on Aug 12 in Oregon. This has been corrected to Aug 11 (US time) in New York City.