NS Defaulter Appealed His 10-Month Jail But It Increased to 13 Months Instead

By
George Yang
-

If there’s just one thing you need to learn this year as a Singaporean, it’s this:

Goody Feed has an app, and with almost 80% of our new contents being app exclusive, you really should download it.

And the other thing that you need to learn?

No one, absolutely no one, can siam NS.

Not even if you’ve written a bestselling book that got adapted into a critically acclaimed movie, or you’ve got an offer to play for the first team in Manchester United together with Wayne Rooney (no one cares if he’s moved on to the US, bruh).

Because when MINDEF knocks on your door, you’d better serve, if not you’ll be punished severely.

And this latest news would cement that thought into your mind, and make this insides’ joke a tad more serious: “When Ah Gong calls, don’t think: Just answer the call.”

NS Defaulter Appeals His 10-Month Sentence

According to Channel NewsAsia, Douglas Tan, a 32-year-old law graduate, has both Singapore and Malaysia citizenship. Not sure how he does that, but anyways, he holds a Singapore passport until he was 11 years old.

In addition, he has lived in Singapore between 2000 and 2001, studying in Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), and during the two years, he enjoyed the benefits as a Singapore citizen.

Now, remember this point because it’s going to be pretty important.

So, he was studying in the UK when he received the pink letter (the notice to register for NS). Apparently, his father wrote in to ask for a deferment but was rejected.

Don’t know About NS Obligations

Douglas went back to Malaysia in 2008, and allegedly only knew about his NS obligations and default then.

His lawyers also used that premise as an argument, but that wasn’t enough to warrant just a fine. According to Justice Hoo, “In my view, it could not be said that the accused had been unaware of his NS liabilities, or that he had believed that his parents had resolved the matter for him.”

Yeah, because anyone who’s been in Singapore for even just a month would know about NS #justsaying

Justice Hoo said “It is in my view inconceivable that, having studied in Singapore for two years in an all-boys school, he would not have been exposed to the fact that male Singapore citizens have to serve NS.”

But that’s not all.

Ready to Serve in 2010

In 2010, Douglas has apparently “expressed his readiness to serve NS if MINDEF could guarantee that he would not be prosecuted.”

Wait, what?

But anyways, he didn’t come back in 2010, but came back in 2016 instead. And that didn’t go well with the prosecutors.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ho Lian-Yi said, “When that assurance was not forthcoming, he decided to continue to stay away, returning only at a time of his choosing.”

Kind of remind me of a certain football player, but anyways.

His sentence was then increased from 10 months to 13 months because it’s considered “two periods” of defaulting: first in the initial stage and again in 2010.

It’s like telling you twice that you’ve got to serve, and you still die die don’t serve until you feel like serving.

Served NS But Still Kena Jailed

If you think everyone’s a Melvyn Tan (the NS defaulter who siam-ed for 28 years before coming back at age 49 and received a $3,000 fine with no jail term), think again.

People are now serving jail terms for evading NS and it has been a rather good deterrence. And in Douglas’ case, it’s no exception.

He has come back to serve NS in the SCDF since 2016, but would be serving that 13 months of jail as well.

Not sure about you, but all I can think of is my Encik’s words when this news surfaced: “Don’t test the system.”

Watch this for a complete summary of what REALLY happened to Qoo10, and why it's like a K-drama:

Read Also:

Advertisements
 
George Yang
Email: [email protected]