In his 36 years of service, Edward held a number of senior roles including as High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam (1984-1990), Ambassador to the Philippines (1990-1993), and Ambassador to Indonesia (1994-2006). Earlier in his tenure, he was posted to Indonesia as First Secretary and then as Counsellor.
Since his retirement in 2006, Edward has been on the board of a number of listed and non-listed companies in Singapore including Keppel Land, Indofood Agri Resources (where he is Chairman), QAF, MS First Capital Insurance, Asia Mobile Holdings and Gas Supply Limited. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the ISEAS-Yusuf Ishak Institute and a Senior Advisor to Harsono Strategic Consulting in Indonesia. He is also a Director of the PT Kawasan Industri Kendal in Central Java, a joint venture between Sembcorp and the Jababeka Group.
Edward holds a BA(Hons) in History from the University of Singapore and a MA from Cornell University. In Cornell, he specialized in Indonesian studies in the Southeast Asia Program.