Er. Ong See Ho

Deputy CEO, Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Civil Engineering, Class of 1977

Quote from recipient: "Very few things in life, especially in engineering, are entirely the work of just one person, and this is no exception. So this award is a recognition given, through me, to the work of my colleagues and volunteers at the BCA, PEB and IES."

Pioneering Singapore's Building and Construction Industry

Er. Ong See Ho has been with the civil service since he graduated with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from NUS in 1977. He started his professional career at the Changi Airport Development Division of the Public Works Department (PWD), and devoted 14 years to projects there. He was involved in the construction of numerous buildings and infrastructure, major ones being Terminals 1 and 2, the first aircraft taxiway bridge and the first Light-Rail Transit in Singapore.

In 1992, he was posted to the Building Control Division of the PWD. He continued to serve at the successor agency, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), where he is the Deputy CEO today. Besides administering regulatory requirements, especially with regard to the structural safety of buildings, he worked on CORENET (Construction and Real Estate Network), a major IT initiative driven by BCA, and led by the Ministry of National Development in collaboration with other public and private organisations.

He spearheaded the Integrated Submission Processing System, enabling BCA officers to receive and process electronic submissions. These resulted in speedier processing of plans submitted, and contributed to Singapore being ranked the fastest (across 183 countries) in issuing construction permits, according to the World Bank's Doing Business Report from 2010 to 2011. This, in turn, contributed to Singapore being ranked 1st in the World Bank's Report for Ease of Doing Business.

Er. Ong was appointed Commissioner of Building Control on 1 June 2006, and is responsible for administering the Building Control Act and Regulations. He became the Deputy CEO (Building Control) of BCA on 1 July 2008, and oversees three Building Control Divisions to meet BCA's strategic thrusts and objectives, especially in the areas of building safety and creating a user-friendly built environment. As a regulator, he is sensitive to industry needs and started the Fridays@BCA dialogue sessions with industry. These initiatives contributed significantly to BCA being ranked 4th in 2010 and 2011 in the Pro-Enterprise Ranking of Government Agencies in Singapore.

Serving the Engineering Community

Er. Ong is a true-blue engineer, who has not only been involved in engineering with the civil service for almost 35 years, but has also contributed actively to the engineering community. He was Registrar of the Professional Engineers Board (PEB) from 1 Jan 1999 to 31 Dec 2005. During his term as Registrar, he paid close attention to engineering education. He encouraged continuing education by introducing the need for continuing professional development for professional engineers. He introduced the PEB Gold Medal to award outstanding graduate students taking Master of Science courses offered by Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Departments. He also established the PEB scholarships to attract students with good academic abilities to pursue engineering education related to the construction sector. Up to 24 scholarships are offered annually, each valued at S$3,000 per student per academic year. A member of the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) since 1978, he became an IES Fellow in 2003. He has been a Council member since 2007, and is currently its Vice-President. At the IES, he was instrumental in forming the Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB) in 2002, as well as in getting it admitted as a full signatory of the Washington Accord in 2006. The EAB, which he currently chairs, represents IES as a body to accredit undergraduate engineering degree programmes that are delivered and awarded in Singapore. This allows engineering degrees awarded in Singapore to be recognised by Washington Accord signatories.

Recognising his Contributions

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Engineering community, he was made a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (2002). In terms of national recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Building and Construction Authority, he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver; 2004).

Honouring an Exceptional Alumnus

Er. Ong See Ho is an inspiration to all NUS Engineering alumni. The Faculty is proud to have an alumnus of his stature, and is pleased to confer the NUS Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award on him.