| George Bogaars | |
| Office: | Director of the Special Branch |
| Term Start: | 1 August 1961 |
| Term End: | 9 August 1965 |
| Primeminister: | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Predecessor: | Eric John Linsell |
| Successor: | Position abolished |
| Office1: | Head of the Singapore Civil Service |
| Primeminister1: | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Term Start1: | August 1968 |
| Term End1: | July 1975 |
| Successor1: | Howe Yoon Chong |
| Birthname: | George Edwin Bogaars |
| Birth Date: | 25 October 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Singapore |
| Death Cause: | Heart failure |
| Death Place: | Singapore |
| Nationality: | Singaporean |
| Spouse: | Dorothy Lee Kian Neo (divorced 1977) |
| Children: | 3 |
| Relatives: | Edwin Tessensohn (great-grandfather) |
| Alma Mater: | University of Malaya (BA, MA) |
George Edwin Bogaars (25 October 19266 April 1992) was a Singaporean intelligence officer and bureaucrat. From 1961 to 1968, he served as the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs' Special Branch. He subsequently led the Singapore Civil Service and was instrumental in the establishment of the Singapore Armed Forces. Bogaars was also the director of Keppel Shipyard and the National Iron and Steel Mills. Between 1980 and 1985, he suffered a heart attack and three strokes, and remained in poor health for the rest of his life. In 1992, Bogaars died of heart failure, aged 65.
George Edwin Bogaars was born on 25 October 1926 in Singapore.[1] Bogaars' first name was taken from his father, George Edward Bogaars,[2] who was the secretary to the Governor of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States,[3] while his middle name was taken from his great-grandfather, Edwin Tessensohn. Bogaars attended the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Saint Patrick's School, and St. Joseph's Institution.[1] During the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1943, Bogaars was forced to relocate from Singapore to Bahau with his father and his younger brother, Brian.[1] [3]
The Bogaars spent three-and-a-half years in Bahau and lived off their own farm produce, which included maize, sweet potatoes, and tapioca. After the war, the younger George Bogaars returned to Singapore and obtained a Raffles College Scholarship.[3] He enrolled at the University of Malaya, graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts in history.[4] A year later, he received a Shell Fellowship to pursue a Master of Arts in history at the same university.[3] Bogaars became one of the first two students to receive an MA from the University of Malaya.[5]
Bogaars had hoped to pursue an academic career but in 1952, at his father's insistence,[3] he joined the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as a new member of the Administrative Service. Three years later, he was appointed as secretary of the Board of Currency Commissioners (Malaya and Borneo) at the Ministry of Finance.[4]
On 1 August 1961, Bogaars succeeded Eric John Linsell as director of the Ministry of Home Affairs' Special Branch,[6] becoming the first Singaporean to assume the role. In 1962, Bogaars was awarded with both the Meritorious Service Medal and the Malaysia Medal.[4] As head of the Special Branch, Bogaars oversaw Operation Coldstore, a covert operation that led to the arrests of 113 suspected communist sympathisers.[7] Following Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 1965, Bogaars was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence under Goh Keng Swee.[4] While at the Ministry of Defence, Bogaars played a crucial role in the establishment of the Singapore Armed Forces and its training institute.[8]
In 1967, the History Association of Singapore was established and Bogaars was elected as its first president.[9] The same year, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.[4] In August 1968, he became the head of the Singapore Civil Service,[4] a post that he held until 1975.[3] In 1970, Bogaars was appointed as the director of Keppel Shipyard. During his tenure, Keppel became the largest ship repair company in the country,[1] although it also amassed a debt of nearly S$845 million following its S$408 million aquisition of Straits Steamship in 1983.[10]
Bogaars left the Ministry of Defence in 1970 to become Permanent Secretary (Economic Development) at the Ministry of Finance. In 1973, he was appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bogaars resigned from his position as head of the Civil Service in July 1975 and was succeeded by Howe Yoon Chong.[8] In 1978, Bogaars returned to the Ministry of Finance again, where he remained until his retirement.
After retiring from public service on 25 October 1981,[8] Bogaars took on directorships at several other companies, including Acma Electrical Industries, Chemical Far East,[11] DBS Bank, and the National Iron and Steel Mills.[10] He resigned from Keppel in 1984 and the National Iron and Steel Mills a year later.[12]
On 7 March 1985, Bogaars was admitted to Singapore General Hospital after suffering a heart attack.[12] [13] He suffered a third stroke in November of the same year, which left him partly paralysed and temporarily unable to speak.[2] [14] On 6 April 1992,[1] having spent the previous five weeks in hospital,[15] Bogaars died of heart failure, aged 65.[7]
Bogaars was a Catholic.[2] He was married to Dorothy Lee Kian Neo,[10] and they lived together at Bukit Timah.[16] In 1971,[2] Lee filed for divorce "on the grounds of cruelty". The divorce was finalised in February 1977 and Lee was awarded full custody of their three children.[17]