Mr Kwa was appointed as a Member of the Public Service Commission in 1997. He has more than 30 years of experience in the petroleum industry and is currently Chairman/Managing Director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. Mr Kwa also holds key appointments in other organisations. These include Deputy Chairman of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd and Director of DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Mr Kwa was conferred the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the NUS in 1994. In 2005, he was awarded the Public Service Star.