He started as a Signals Officer in the Singapore Army, crossed over to the Air Force, became Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff, and attained the rank of Brigadier-General as Director of Joint Operations and Planning in the Defence Ministry before resigning to enter politics in 1988.
George is also the Senior Adviser to both Kuok Group and Kerry Logistics Network. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Berggruen Institute on Governance, International Advisory Panel of Peking University, International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, International Advisory Council of China's Eco Forum Global Guiyang, International Advisory Board of Japan's National Graduate School for International Policy Studies (GRIPS), International Advisory Committee of Mitsubishi Corporation and the MUFG Global Advisory Board. He is an independent Board member of AIA, Pinduoduo, an e-commerce company newly listed on NASDAQ and New Yangon Development Corporation, a strategic non-business advisor to Sea Ltd. George served as a Member of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See from year 2013-2014. From February 2014, he became a Member of the Vatican Council for the Economy.
George has a BA in Engineering (Double First) from Cambridge University and an MBA (Baker Scholar) from Harvard University.