Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

PSC chair Eddie Teo heads N-Day awards list

SINGAPORE — For his many years of outstanding contribution to the public sector, Mr Eddie Teo, who chairs the Public Service Commission (PSC) among other appointments, tops the list of National Day Award winners this year.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — For his many years of outstanding contribution to the public sector, Mr Eddie Teo, who chairs the Public Service Commission (PSC) among other appointments, tops the list of National Day Award winners this year.

The 70-year-old has been conferred the Order of Nila Utama (First Class) — the highest honour to be given out this time and one of Singapore’s highest state awards.

He dedicated his award to the late former President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan, who mentored him in the early part of his 47-year career.

Mr Teo said: “The one person who was my greatest mentor was the late Mr S R Nathan. He taught me the values, discipline and instincts required for public service.”

The Order of Nila Utama (First Class) award was last handed out in 2015 to former Singapore National Employers Federation president Stephen Lee.

It goes to Mr Teo 11 years after he was conferred the Distinguished Service Order, when he was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia.

Apart from thanking his wife “for her unconditional love and support over the years”, Mr Teo was grateful to his fellow PSC members, describing them as “all busy people with important jobs or big organisations to run, who nevertheless are willing to volunteer their time and energy to contribute to the public good”.

“I thank them for being willing to challenge my views and for disagreeing with me, in order that I can make better decisions,” he said.

The former Permanent Secretary of Defence also thanked “all the dedicated and hardworking public servants in the organisations I have worked in”, because “without them, things would not work, and the Singapore Public Service would not be so highly regarded by so many countries in the world”.

Appointed PSC chairman in 2008, Mr Teo concurrently chairs the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship Fund, the Dr Goh Keng Swee Scholarship Fund, and the Board of Governors of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, while serving as a member in the Legal Service Commission. He also chairs the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), and was part of the nine-member Constitutional Commission which was tasked last year with reviewing the Elected Presidency scheme. The six-member PEC is tasked to ensure that each presidential candidate has the qualifications required to run for office.

A President’s Scholar, Mr Teo started his career in 1970 with the Security and Intelligence Division at the Ministry of Defence.

By 1979, he rose to become the division’s director and later held a concurrent post as director of the Internal Security Department in the Ministry of Home Affairs between 1982 and 1986, before taking up positions as Permanent Secretary between 1994 and 2005.

A total of 4,323 recipients will receive National Day honours for their service to the nation. They will be presented at the National Day Awards Investiture at the end of the year.

They include civil servants, community and grassroots leaders, educators, legal professionals, and military personnel. It is the largest pool of recipients since 1998, when 4,676 individuals were recognised.

Another top award — the Distinguished Service Order — goes to two recipients: Mr Chin Siat Yoon, 67, who recently stepped down as Ambassador to Japan, and hotelier Ho Kwon Ping, 65, who is chairman of the Singapore Management University’s Board of Trustees.

Mr Chin was instrumental in the conclusion of the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement in 2008. He also helped to set up the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation with China — the highest-level forum between China and Singapore — in 2004 when he was Ambassador to China. “China has very few bilateral forums with other countries helmed at the Vice-Premier level, and most of them are with major powers … (I just feel) a sense of profound gratitude that I have been able to contribute in some small ways to Singapore,” Mr Chin told TODAY.

“The one constant (throughout my career) is the conviction that if given a mission, I must do my utmost best. It is only after I have done my best that I can have peace of mind. I am probably my own worst taskmaster. I don’t lose much sleep over what others think.”

Mr Ho, who is also the executive chairman of luxury hotel operator Banyan Tree Holdings, said of his award: “To have been able to contribute to Singapore not just in business, but in the development of our educational sector and the growth of our civil society, is to me the true meaning of a purposeful life.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.