URA chairman Peter Ho receives top honours in this year's National Day awards

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) chairman Peter Ho has been awarded the Order of Nila Utama (with High Distinction) – one of Singapore’s top national honours – for contributing significantly to Singapore in more than 50 years of distinguished service.

The former civil service head heads this year’s list of National Day Award recipients.

He is also a senior adviser to the Centre of Strategic Futures and a senior fellow in the Civil Service College.

Despite retiring from the Singapore Administrative Service in 2010 after a 34-year career in the Public Service, Ho, 68, continues to be active on the boards of several academic, arts, research, and science-related entities.

Before his retirement, Ho was the head of the Civil Service and permanent secretary at various ministries, including Defence and Foreign Affairs. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 2016.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to have served Singapore for the past fifty years. In this long journey, I have had the privilege of working with many colleagues who have shared the vision of building a nation that is competitive, secure, and culturally vibrant," Ho said in a statement to the media. 

Ho joins a small group of individuals who have been conferred the Order of Nila Utama (with High Distinction).

The last person awarded the Order of Nila Utama (With High Distinction) was former minister Lim Chee Onn in 2019.

Lim has been a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers since 2017.

A total of 6,774 individuals, including public servants, community and grassroots leaders and educators, will receive National Day Honours this year.

The awards are an acknowledgement of acts of merit and service to Singapore.

Amongst them, six were awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The Distinguished Service Order is awarded to any person who has performed within Singapore any act or series of acts constituting distinguished conduct.

They are:

• Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng, 80, chairman of the Woodlands Health Campus Development Board and chairman of Vanguard Healthcare
• Hsieh Fu Hua, 74, chairman of the National University Health System and chairman of the National University of Singapore Board of Trustees
• Peter Ong Boon Kwee, 63, former chairman of Enterprise Singapore and former Head of Civil Service
• Syed Hassan Syed Mohammad Salim Al-Attas, 72, member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights
• Phillip Tan Eng Seong, 75, chairman of Yellow Ribbon Singapore 
• Teo Ming Kian, 72, chairman of Singapore Technologies Engineering 

Known as “The Grand Dame of Singapore”, Chua, who turned 80 this year, was the first female general manager at Raffles Hotel in 1990. 

This veteran hotelier is also Singapore’s non-resident Ambassador to Spain. In 2014, she was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for her work as chairman of the Alexandra Health System and as the immediate past chairman of the Community Chest.

As chairman of the Woodlands Health Development Board, Chua led her team to overcome disruptions to the facility’s construction due to Covid-19-related delays. The Woodlands Health Campus officially opened last month.

As founding chairman, she also steered Vanguard Healthcare to establish five nursing homes over seven years to meet growing demand. 

Chua’s citation also noted that her contributions spanned multiple sectors beyond healthcare, such as the arts, education and international relations.

In a statement to the media, Woodlands Health's CEO, Dr Jason Cheah, said that Chua encouraged and inspired the Woodlands Health team to create something different, not just in terms of the physical hospital campus but also in how healthcare services should be delivered, with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of their patients and the community.

He added that Chua came up with many new ideas that are now implemented in the new health campus.

Another recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, Syed Hassan Mohammad Al-Attas, has been the head of Masjid Ba'alwie for over forty years and a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights since 2021.

Affectionately known as Habib Hassan, this 72-year-old is known for his interfaith work.

He has also received the Meritorious Service Medal in 2015 for his efforts to enhance racial and religious harmony in Singapore. 

The citation for his Distinguished Service Order noted his outstanding contributions to strengthening social cohesion in Singapore.

He told AsiaOne he was surprised to receive the award. 

"Many (other) people have contributed a lot to Singapore, some behind the scenes", he said.

He dedicated the award to all those who have contributed to interfaith work in Singapore. 

On what inspired his lifelong work towards creating common ground and mutual understanding between faiths and races, Habib Hasan shared with AsiaOne that he grew up with Catholic and Hindu neighbours and was comfortable mixing with people from different races and religions early on. 

He recalled stopping by Sakya Muni Buddha Temple at Race Course Road with his father on their trips home from the mosque. Each time, the Thai monk would beckon him over.

"Young man, come here". The Thai monk would then offer him a cold drink from the refrigerator behind the Buddha statue. 

Habib Hassan also recalled how kampong communities were close-knit.

"The opera and puppet shows were attended not only by the Chinese, but the Malays and Indians as well because there was no television then. And then, during Malay weddings, there was music until midnight. But everyone will join in and enjoy it (the celebrations) together."

He acknowledged that modern high-rise Singapore's fast pace of life presents a challenge different from that of kampong communities in the yesteryear. 

"Unfortunately, now, it is different. People need to sleep early. They have homework to complete or go to work (and school) early. We have to understand."

Habib Hassan also hoped that Singapore's new generation of leaders would continue the work of our forefathers in creating opportunities and space for common understanding between races and religions.

He urged younger Singaporeans to interact more with others and try to understand the practices of other faiths and races.

Turning to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Habib Hassan hoped that Singaporeans would not allow the political situation in other countries to create fault lines that could affect our society.

He cautioned that messaging apps and social media could be used to spread false or unverified information meant to create hatred and unhappiness. 

"As Singaporeans, we should not allow the political situation outside of Singapore, such as the Middle East, to affect our relationship with one another."  

A full list of the 2024 National Day Award recipients is available on PMO’s website.

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