Stanley Toft Stewart

Stanley Toft Stewart (13 June 1910 – 9 February 1992) was a Singaporean civil servant, diplomat and district officer of Butterworth and Balik Pulau.

Stewart received his early education at St. Xavier's Institution. During the school's annual sports competition in 1929, Stewart won first place in a dash and set a shot put school record after he threw . In 1933, Stewart broke his own shot put record by . He graduated with a School Certificate in 1928.

In 1933, Stewart graduated from Raffles College with a diploma in arts.

Career In 1934, Stewart was supposed to be one of the two to be appointed as a Queen's Scholar, which would have allowed him to further his studies in the United Kingdom, but he was unsuccessful. Instead, he was one of the first two to be selected to the work in the Straits Settlements Civil Service, and he left Penang for Singapore on 1 October 1934. The other individual selected was Tan Thoon Lip. Stewart was attached to the Land Office under the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing, and in 1936, Stewart was appointed as a police magistrate and assistant district officer of Butterworth. Stewart also remained active in sports by competing against other clubs in bowling and tennis.

In 1939, Stewart was transferred to Balik Pulau, and during the Japanese occupation of Malaya, he remained in the same position, reporting to a Japanese superior. After the war, Stewart was transferred back to Butterworth and promoted to serve as a district officer in the Colonial Administrative Service, one of the first locally born to be appointed for the position.

In 1957, Stewart became the deputy chief secretary and acting chief secretary of Singapore.

In 1959, Stewart was appointed as the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and he was involved in merger talks alongside other government officials such as Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Minister for Finance Goh Keng Swee. In 1963, Stewart was appointed as the permanent secretary in the Prime Minister's Office and head of civil service, before officially retiring in 1964. Stewart returned three years later to become the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). During his tenure, Stewart was involved in discussions to split Malaysia–Singapore Airlines. Stewart also proposed the establishment of a distinct class of professional diplomats, leading to the creation of a foreign diplomatic service. This initiative formalised the recruitment of career diplomats, establishing a separate and specialised diplomatic corps.

In 1972, Stewart left MFA and became the chief executive of the National Stadium Corporation, overseeing the construction and opening of the National Stadium.

Stewart died of a heart attack on 9 February 1992. His wife died on 9 September 2018 at the age of 105 and she was the oldest Eurasian Singaporean.

Awards and decorations

80x80px Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George, in 1958.