URA chairman Peter Ho receives top honour at National Day Awards

SINGAPORE: Mr Peter Ho Hak Ean, chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), heads this year’s list of National Day Award recipients.
He was awarded the Order of Nila Utama (with High Distinction), the highest of three grades for the Order. Instituted in 1975, the Order is conferred by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Before Mr Ho, former minister Mr Lim Chee Onn was conferred the honour in 2019.
Mr Ho was one of 6,774 people who received National Day Honours this year. The recipients are made up of 6,062 civilians and 712 members of the military. 
The full list of awards was announced on the Prime Minister’s Office website on Friday (Aug 9). 
Mr Ho has contributed significantly to Singapore in more than 50 years of distinguished service, according to a citation issued through the Prime Minister’s Office.
Mr Ho served as a public servant for more than three decades and “created lasting impact in various senior leadership appointments”, it read.
He was the Head of Civil Service and Permanent Secretary of Ministries such as the Prime Minister’s Office, Defence and Foreign Affairs
Mr Ho continued to contribute to Singapore after his retirement in 2010.
As a member of the National Research Foundation Board, he helped build capabilities in major research, innovation and enterprise platforms in support of Singapore’s strategic and economic interests.
And as chairman of URA, Mr Ho provided “invaluable guidance in long-term land use and infrastructure planning for Singapore’s sustained development”.
Mr Ho is also the founding chairman of the Social Science Research Council, where he introduced key initiatives to develop talent and strengthen research in social sciences and humanities.
As senior advisor to the Centre for Strategic Futures, Mr Ho helped strengthen whole-of-government strategic planning in a more complex environment, read the citation.
Mr Ho has also been chairman of National Gallery Singapore since 2021, where he guided the institution’s drive for artistic excellence while fulfilling its social role as a people’s museum.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served Singapore for the past fifty years,” said Mr Ho.
“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,” he added.
Mr Ho was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 2016, the Meritorious Service Medal in 2007 and the Long Service Medal in 1998. 
This year’s National Day Awards saw six individuals getting the Distinguished Service Order. 
The recipients included Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of National University Health System and the NUS board of trustees, Mr Phillip Tan Eng Seong, chairman of the Yellow Ribbon Singapore board and Mr Teo Ming Kian, chairman of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. 
Ms Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng, chairman of the Woodlands Health Campus Development Board committee, Mr Peter Ong Boon Kwee, former chairman of Enterprise Singapore, and Mr Syed Hassan Syed Mohammad Salim Al Attas, a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, will also receive this honour.