Adjunct Professor Bertha Henson (NUS Department of Communications and New Media and Tembusu College) recently published Not for Circulation: The George E. Bogaars Story (NUS Press, 2021), a biography of one of Singapore’s pioneer civil servants, The Straits Times reports in ‘Ex-spymaster and top civil servant’s biography on WWII, S’pore’s separation launched’ (October 2021). During his illustrious career spanning close to 30 years, Mr Bogaars helped set up the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute, served as permanent secretary of the foreign affairs and finance ministry, implemented a new Budget process across the civil service which tracked expenditure and key annual targets, and formed the Treasury Coffee Club (TCC), a place for senior officers to interact and discuss workplace issues. Most notably, Mr Bogaars is recognized as one of Singapore’s pioneer spymasters, heading the Special Branch intelligence agency and its fight against the communists during Operation Coldstore in 1963.

Mr Bogaars graduated with a bachelor’s degree with honors in history and a master’s from the University of Malaya, a predecessor institution of NUS. After graduating, he followed his father’s footsteps and pursued a career in the administrative service, taking up assignments in the Department of Commerce and Industry and the Finance Department in the early years of his career. He was eventually approached to transform the Special Branch from a police outfit to an intelligence agency.

Mr Bogaars was always aware of key political developments in Singapore. He knew that heated meetings had taken place between the People’s Action Party (PAP) and Barisan Socialis, a political party formed by left-wing former PAP members who were expelled from the PAP. Clashes between the PAP and members of the Barisan Socialis served as the backdrop to Operation Coldstore, a covert security operation carried out by the Special Branch intelligence agency led by Mr Bogaars. The agency oversaw the investigation of communist activities and was responsible for drawing up a list of individuals and organizations suspected to be communist sympathizers. Investigations by the Special Branch intelligence agency were crucial to the execution of Operation Coldstore in 1963. 113 members of the public, suspected to be communist sympathizers, were eventually detained without trial under the Public Service Security Ordinance. At the time, Operation Coldstore was cited as necessary to maintain domestic peace and stability.

After his stint as head of the Special Branch intelligence agency, Mr Bogaars would eventually go on to serve as the head of civil service before taking up the role of permanent secretary at the foreign affairs and finance ministry. He retired in 1985 and passed away in 1992 at the age of 65. In honor of his contributions to Singapore, his friends established a George Bogaars Professorship in History at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).

Mr Bogaars’ biography, an initiative by his former Treasury colleagues, was pieced together from an extensive collection of essays, interviews, and oral history records and seeks to commemorate his contributions to the civil service. It chronicles his life beginning from the hardships he faced during the Japanese Occupation to the challenges he encountered as one of Singapore’s pioneer civil servants. Sale proceeds from the book will go to an endowment fund which supports history students who have displayed exceptional academic performance at NUS FASS.

Get Not for Circulation: The George E. Bogaars Story here.

 Read more about the book in The Straits Times.