Previously, Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen made waves (literally) when the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) extended their deferment due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics last year.
Well, it seems that the two national swimmers are now ready to swim their way into the SAF.
MINDEF: Joseph Schooling & Quah Zheng Wen To Enlist Soon As Deferment Has Ended
On 16 Sep 2021, Mindef announced that the NS deferment for both national swimmers has ended on 31 Aug 2021.
Pre-enlistment procedures are now underway and, once completed, they will be enlisted.
According to Channel News Asia, Schooling has been on deferment since 2014, and Quah since 2015.
Long-Term Deferment Granted To Potential Medal Winners At High-Level Competition
It was added in Mindef’s statement that both Schooling and Quah has “qualified for” and “represented” Singapore at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
According to Mindef, deferments are granted to “exceptional sportsmen” likely to win medals for Singapore. And no, we’re not talking about low-level competitions, it must be “high-tier” competitions like the Olympics.
Other than Schooling and Quah, the only long-term deferment in the past 15 years was for sailor Maximilian Soh to compete in the Beijing Olympics back in 2008.
Back in 2018, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the decision for Mindef to defer individuals is made “very carefully”, only in the “interest of Singapore, first and foremost and not their own”.
That was also why Ben Davis was not granted deferment despite joining an English Premier League football club back in 2018, which you can read more about here.
The Basis For Their Deferment
Now, back to Quah, Schooling and Soh; if you’ve ever aspired to defer your NS, take note of this section.
All three sportsmen had shown that they need to train full-time in order to compete in the international competition.
Training schedules and targets must also be included.
For national athletes serving NS, they are granted time-offs or disruptions to train and compete in international competitions as long as it doesn’t interfere with essential military operations.
According to CNA, there are several Olympic athletes who trained for the Tokyo Olympics while serving their full-time NS obligations without deferment or disruptions.
This includes badminton players Loh Kean Yew and Clarence Chew, diver Jonathan Chan and sailor Ryan Lo.
On a separate note, that means, for those of you enlisting soon, Joseph Schooling or Quah Zhen Wen might be your bunkmate, eh?
Who knows, one of them might even spring you a Boss suit without you having to beat him at swimming.
Read Also:
- Schooling Challenges the Public to a 200m Butterfly with 10 Sec Head Start; Winner Will Get a Boss Suit
- Mindef Gives Three Reasons Why They’ll Never Approve Ben Davis’s Deferment Application
Feature Image: Hafiz Johari/ shutterstock.com
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