PUBLISHED ONSeptember 04, 2026 9:00 PMUPDATEDSeptember 05, 2026 3:10 AMBYKhoo Yi-HangHe may have had to give up time with family to protect our country from threats beyond our borders, but his family still loves him all the same.
Eddie Teo, a former director of Singapore's Security and Intelligence Department (SID), shared with media in an interview on Aug 13 that his position required personal sacrifices.
He referred to a private Facebook post by his son, John Teo, who wrote a tribute to his father for receiving Singapore's highest civilian honour — the Order of Temasek (With Distinction), or Darjah Utama Temasek — on Aug 9.
"I was very touched by that because I know I neglected him when he was young," Teo admitted.
"I never spent the time I should have spent with him. But that's life. You choose what you do, and you can't go back and change things, so I try to make up for it now by spending more time with family."
Referring to the award conferment as a "deeply proud moment" for the family, Teo's son said that his father has devoted his entire life to public service.
"It is gratifying to be able to spend more time with him now as he enters a different chapter in life, with time to travel, discover new places, enjoy good food, and most importantly, simply enjoy the freedom of retirement.
"This honour is a fitting recognition of a life spent in service… we are immensely proud of you, and grateful for all you have given to Singapore and to our family."
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Teo joined the Ministry of Defence's SID in 1970, climbing up the ranks and becoming director between 1979 and 1994.
He later took up the role of permanent secretary for Defence, permanent secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
Teo retired from his post in the Public Service Commission in 2018 after close to five decades in the public service.
He also served as chairman on the Council of Presidential Advisers from 2019 to June 1, 2026.
Recalling his priorities when he joined SID, Teo shared that he had to deal with threats from Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and racial politics — the 1969 race riots were a key issue that he needed to monitor.
"Over the years, the other issue which I anticipated would grow was Islamic terrorism, and I formed a little group within SID to start looking at the issue," Teo said.
Although the department's concerns have changed through the decades, their mission remains the same: to keep policymakers well-informed, give intelligence assessments that are objective, accurate and based in facts.
Teo stressed: "We were very conscious that we must never twist or change our assessments to fit policy.
"SID is not a department that formulates policy; it feeds our policymakers objective intelligence assessments, and we will never allow intelligence to be politicised, as has happened in some other countries."
Further adding to the intriguing nature of Teo's job was the "good fortune and privilege" of joining SID during the period when the late Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee were Singapore's political leaders.
Then Prime Minister Lee worked closely with SID, even bypassing Goh, who was Deputy Prime Minister at the time, Teo said.
"The experience of working under both these legends is something that is difficult for me to explain to you, you had to have been there."
One of the joys he had working with Lee was bringing intelligence counterparts from other countries to meet Singapore's then-PM.
"They all want to see Lee Kuan Yew," Teo said. "But it doesn't mean that everyone that says they want to see Lee Kuan Yew, I bring to see Lee Kuan Yew, because if I do that, I'll lose my job."
The late Lee was only interested in people that Singapore could educate, benefit or learn from.
Education was a key aspect of these meetings, as Lee would put forward his perspectives for these leaders, potentially inspiring change where necessary.
Being able to meet both PM Lee and DPM Goh was a privilege and inspiring, Teo said.
"That's another reason why I stayed in the civil service and never thought of quitting, despite all the sacrifices that I had to make."
Delving deeper into his experience with Lee, Teo said that the late founding father of Singapore would not sleep until 3am, even on weekends.
Teo would receive calls from Lee at midnight and recalled how he would be tasked to work on operations on Fridays or Saturdays.
"So your weekend is gone," he quipped. "Despite all that, it was worth spending all my time in the public service, not getting rich… not to gain power."
He added: "The people I worked with showed me that Singapore was in a good place because they were doing all these things not for the money, not for the power, but to enhance Singapore's well-being and to serve the people of Singapore.
"And because your bosses behave like that, you also behave like that. And I never — not one moment in my whole career — felt that I should change jobs."
Teo also spoke of the late S R Nathan, Singapore's former President who was also a director at SID before Teo.
"I had very big shoes to fill when I took over. First of all, within the organisation, I wasn't number two. I wasn't his deputy. I was about six ranks below," Teo revealed.
He shared: "S R Nathan's support was very important… apart from Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee, I had [him] as a mentor, and I could not ask for a better mentor."
S R Nathan did not show Teo the ropes — he was expected to already know what to do as director of SID, and the two maintained a strong friendship.
"I hope that the way I ran SID was worthy of his perception of how SID should go... In SID, you may do very good work, but only your direct bosses know about it, and for a very long time, that was one mistake I made.
"I did not allow him to get the National Day Awards because I thought it was a security risk. But wiser directors who came after me changed that policy, and I'm glad that now the good officers in SID can be given National Day Awards.
"So I owe S R Nathan a lot, and I will always remember him for what he did for me."
While in SID, Teo believed that he would work in intelligence forever — after all, the job was both inspiring and fulfilling for him.
He revealed that it was only when his permanent secretary pleaded with him to accept an offer to enter administration that he decided to leave.
"Because I respected my superior, I said okay, for your sake… But I left quite reluctantly."
Weeks prior to this interview, Teo retired from his role as chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers.
"I haven't had time to enjoy my retirement yet, but my wife knows what I should do — that is, travel with her all over the world," he laughed.
"I think I'll get very exhausted doing that, so I'm not sure what I will do if I don't travel with her.
"But you know, it's in a way it's good to feel the sense of responsibility has been lifted from my shoulders. After 56 years, I am now free."
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