Prior to joining Gardens by the Bay, Hugh was the Executive Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities, a global knowledge centre focused on advancing liveable, sustainable and resilient cities. Besides overseeing futures-oriented Research and Capability Development for urban leaders, Hugh led the organising of four editions of the World Cities Summit and its associated Mayors Forum.
Hugh has also served as the CEO of the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), where he was actively involved in developing the latest iteration of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan, a key component of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Hugh has held the appointment of Deputy Secretary (Community, Youth and Sports) at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and concurrently as a Board member of SportSG. In his earlier appointment as Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Law, Hugh was a board member of the Singapore Land Authority and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, with ministry responsibilities over land and intellectual property policy.
Before joining the civil service, Hugh spent 25 years as a Combat Engineer in the Singapore Armed Forces. He retired as a Brigadier General and last served as the Chief of Staff, General Staff for the Army. His military career included a range of senior command and staff roles, such as the Commander of the Training & Doctrine Command, Commander of the 6th Combined Arms Division, Chief Engineer Officer and Assistant Chief of General Staff for Operations, and for Plans.
Hugh graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1987 with a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class) degree on a Singapore Armed Forces (Overseas) Scholarship. He holds a Master of Science (Management of Technology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of America, 1998. He also attended the 2011 Advanced Management Programme in the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
He is married with three grown-up children, and has a keen interest in technology, sports and photography.