When Granill Ding Simon moved to the Malaysian state of Johor six years ago, the mechanical engineer traded city life for what he thought would be a slower pace among palm-oil plantations and beaches. Since then, Johor’s rapid transition into a data center hub has drawn him into one of the world’s hottest tech sectors. Big tech firms including Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and Alibaba have committed investments in Malaysia’s data centers in recent years, tapping into the growing demand for artificial ...