Cheap Citizenship?

Pianist pays NS dues - 28 years later (abbreviated news report)

"AFTER staying away from Singapore for nearly 30 years because he defaulted on his national service, pianist Melvyn Tan has finally paid his dues.

He was fined $5000 for defaulting on his NS after he decides to return, as his aged parents are finding it difficult to visit him in London. Although Mr Tan became a British citizen in 1978, he was still a Singapore citizen when he failed to fulfil his NS duties, making him answerable for the offence in a Singapore court..."

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Yup he's an accomplished pianist and all that, but isn't $5k peanuts? They might as well have removed it as a discount, it's mostly irrelevant. Heck, what's the going rate for full-day guard duty nowadays? $100? A normal enlistee if spared NS could probably earn near $1k/mth on normal working hours, and recoup that $5k in a year, more if he has some skills, and gain valuable work experience too. If $5k is "paying NS dues", i think many families would be happy to take that option.

I thought the NS liability was a big deal, with so much attention being paid to foreign holidays once male citizens reach 16 years of age, parents required to make security deposits on overseas students, reservists possibly charged if they leave the country without permission, MPs doing house arrests for BMT defaulters. Hell, people who have only a few months (out of 2.5 years) of service left can also get charged if they don't complete their deferment.

Sympathy for his aged parents (80+ years old) is one thing, but the fact is that many enlistees deserve at least that much or if not more compassion - need to earn to support a poor family, need to graduate from poly/uni ASAP to get a decent job etc, I'm sure every camp has their fair share of those hard luck stories. But of course none of them get away, all lan lan serve the nation first, and take the tekan and the (admittedly small) risks of training accidents.

So, the moral of the story: If you skip NS, better become distinguished. If you succeed, you can just wait it out and walk back here with a little slap on the wrist.

Nothing personal against Mr Tan, but the government should set some guidelines - for example, once an NS deserter reaches a certain age, he automatically qualifies for a return and mandatory $5000 fine. But, of course, it would be very bad PR to do that, and there would be an uproar. So judges have the right to decide on a "case-by-case" basis.

It's the time and not the money that is the point, so I feel the fairest punishment if he wants to set foot back here would be to perform his NS duties in a reasonable clerical role or something. Otherwise, stay in the UK, and bring his parents there to be with him. But not get the best of both worlds by credit card.