Over 4 decades, he grew SIS Technologies into professionally managed and publicly traded regional businesses.
Over four decades, Mr Lim Kia Hong grew SIS Technologies 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. 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”.
During national service, he helped with a computerisation project at the Ministry of Defence , sourcing computer-related items from the US. Subsequently, he started up SIS Technologies in 1983 with $100,000 in seed money from his father, who was in the sugar business.“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 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.” Mr Lim’s wife is a homemaker. None of his four children – sons Lik Xian and Lik Rong, and daughters Lik Shi and Lik Qi – is in the tech industry.
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.
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