Singapore-born New Zealand teenager faces fine, jail as he seeks to avoid national service call-up

[ray245]

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/austra ... tor=CS1-10

A 19-year-old who was born in Singapore but moved to New Zealand when he was eight is seeking an exemption from national service (NS), reported a local media outlet.

According to stuff.co.nz, Singapore authorities have demanded that Mr Brandon Smith, who lives in the city of Dunedin, report for a pre-enlistment medical screening.

He faces a two-year jail term and a $10,000 fine if he fails to comply.

Mr Smith, who holds dual citizenship but can only relinquish his Singapore citizenship when he turns 21, was quoted as saying that spending two years doing NS was "difficult and pointless".

"I don't see the point of it, really. It's sort of a waste of time to go there and just come back anyway," he told reporters.

He added that the NS allowance he would receive was not enough to cover food and rent while he stays in Singapore, and that he did not want to impose on his family.

As he is also unable to speak Mandarin, he claimed that he would treated as an "outsider" during NS.

Mr Smith's multiple applications to defer his NS call-up until the age of 21 have allegedly been rejected, even though his younger brother was granted a deferment.

His father, Mr Shane Smith, is a Kiwi who served in his country's Air Force. His Singapore-born wife, Cindy, is currently a permanent resident in New Zealand.

The senior Smith has been in contact with MPs and the authorities in Singapore for years to help his son avoid NS, reported stuff.co.nz.

"Absolutely no one would accommodate us. It was always the same answer; 'we regret to inform you that Brandon has to serve National Service'," the father said.

"Obviously for Brandon, it's not what we want. If he doesn't go back to Singapore to serve his NS, then he can never enter Singapore because he runs the risk of being arrested."

As a last resort, the family approached Dunedin South MP Clare Curran for assistance in September last year. She, in turn, appealed to Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully in a letter.

"I think it's a really good case for New Zealand to be sticking up for its citizens," Ms Curran reportedly said.

In a statement released on Saturday (Jan 23), Mr MCully said he is intending to take the matter up.

"While the Singapore Government is responsible for determining their own citizenship policies, I have considerable sympathy for the situation this family has found themselves in," he said.

As a person who knew a friend in NS who was in the exact same circumstances, I really dislike the Singapore's government policy of basically forcing as many people into National Service as possible, regardless of their suitability for national service.

[K. A. Pital]

Draft army is draft army. Evading service is a legal offense. There can be good reasons to avoid it and to break that law - draft sucks. But...

[ray245]

Draft army is draft army. Evading service is a legal offense. There can be good reasons to avoid it and to break that law - draft sucks. But...

The issue is trying to draft a dual national that have never grown up in Singapore, and someone that actively want to renounce his citizenship. It's effectively trying to draft a foreigner that feels no real sense of relationship to the country to begin with.

And there's the fact that the army drafts all sorts of people into the service, including people with mental illness. The challenge for the Singapore military is it is trying to maintain its size while dealing with a declining population. ( At least in regards to Singapore-born citizens).

Singapore does not accept dual-citizenship, with dual-citizens being forced to choose which citizenship they want to retain at the age of 21. And for guys, the only way you can renounce your Singaporean citizenship is to finish your military service. So there are cases where people are forced to join the army simply because they were born in Singapore and have a Singaporean citizenship at birth.

Then there is the issue of the issue with NS not being opaque, with people of dual citizenship not given any clear idea about their obligations. ( such as mailing to the person's old address in Singapore, and not having any record of the person's overseas address).


It won't be a big issue if they could allow people who wish to renounce their citizenship to do it before they are drafted. Those people have no interest in serving the state ( at least one of them), and you aren't going to have an effective soldier who actively hates the country for drafting them.

[K. A. Pital]

Singapore does not accept dual-citizenship

I know. But that is a good thing it does not. Why should Singapore accept dual citizenship? For hordes of high-flyers to come wanting a safe warm home in a tax haven, driving property prices up like crazy?

It won't be a big issue if they could allow people who wish to renounce their citizenship to do it before they are drafted. Those people have no interest in serving the state ( at least one of them), and you aren't going to have an effective soldier who actively hates the country for drafting them.

With that I can agree. Why force someone who leaves the place and actively seeks to renounce citizenship to keep it? Let citizenship be renounced at 14, when people get passports, or at 18 max, and the let everyone decide for themselves.

[ray245]

Singapore does not accept dual-citizenship

I know. But that is a good thing it does not. Why should Singapore accept dual citizenship? For hordes of high-flyers to come wanting a safe warm home in a tax haven, driving property prices up like crazy?

This is happening even without dual citizenship. We have a large number of permanent residents (PR) that have almost the same right and obligations. They have to serve in the military, or at least their sons does even if they wish to keep their PR.

With that I can agree. Why force someone who leaves the place and actively seeks to renounce citizenship to keep it? Let citizenship be renounced at 14, when people get passports, or at 18 max, and the let everyone decide for themselves.

The current policy seems to be aiming to draft as many people as possible even if they aren't suited for the military just to keep the numbers up.

Hence you end up with a number of mentally ill people in the service, with some being thrown into boot camp until they wish to kill themselves.

[Pelranius]

Draft army is draft army. Evading service is a legal offense. There can be good reasons to avoid it and to break that law - draft sucks. But...

The issue is trying to draft a dual national that have never grown up in Singapore, and someone that actively want to renounce his citizenship. It's effectively trying to draft a foreigner that feels no real sense of relationship to the country to begin with.

Sounds like a major security nightmare.