Ben Davis Playing for Thailand in SEA Games, Which Means S’pore Should Officially Have 1 Less Soldier

Ben Davis. How do you even describe him?

NS defaulter?

Fulham FC player?

Professional football player?

Singaporean? Thai? English?

Unlike many of us who can only choose what country food to eat, Ben Davis can choose what country citizenship to take, and the 18-year-old seems to have made a choice temporarily.

Ben Davis, a Player for Thailand in the Upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games

The SEA Games will take place at the end of November, here’s why Singapore has officially lost a soldier: the Fulham player, who should be serving NS now if he had wanted to play for Singapore, is being called up to play for Thailand.

The Land of Smiles has won him over.

Either that or he’ll be a citizen of any country when there’s a competition or a need.

Ben Davis has been named by the Football Association of Thailand in its website as part of the provisional squad.

Of course that doesn’t mean he’s denouncing his other citizenships, but it sure sent a clear message: the man’s wearing the Thai jersey soon.

Ironic, because not too long again, the man used to wear the Singapore jersey.

What’s the Big Deal

You’d have known that he tried to defer NS and failed, and did not express any interest in serving (I mean, who does).

The thing is, the man’s like Ditto from Pokemon.

He can be anyone he wants depending on where he is.

When NS calls, he suddenly stayed in the UK. Over in the Fulham website, he’s listed as an English national.

And now, he’s become a Thai.

While he can do this on paper, I’m sure there would be many angry comments online.

But it’s okay; we might have lost a soldier called Ben Davis, we still have Imran.

Image: Facebook (Ministry of Defence, Singapore (MINDEF))