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SINGAPORE: A Singaporean with a second citizenship in Malaysia pleaded guilty on Thursday (October 1) to failing to fulfill his national service obligations for nearly 10 years, and now says he wants to retain his Singapore citizenship.
Basil Lim Boon Hoh, 28, admitted to spending a total of nine years, 11 months and 16 days outside of Singapore in breach of his obligations under the Enlistment Act.
He pleaded guilty to two charges under the law, and two other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that Lim was born in Singapore in 1991 to a Singaporean man and a Malaysian woman. Lim is a citizen of Singapore by birth.
When Lim was about a year old, he left Singapore for Malaysia and is no longer in contact with his father. She studied in Malaysia and then the UK for a master of science degree.
In 2001, he was granted Malaysian citizenship and then a Malaysian passport was issued which he used to travel abroad.
Lim also used her Singapore passport to travel outside of Singapore on about 10 occasions from her birth to 2010, and was also issued a Singapore NRIC in 2007.
His mother had applied for the identity card, even though Lim had Malaysian citizenship at the time, as she wanted him to be able to choose where to work in the future.
Lim knew his responsibilities to NS, as his father had told him before he was 10 years old. When she was 16 years old, her mother told her that she could ignore these responsibilities as “she now had Malaysian citizenship and could forget her responsibilities to NS”.
In subsequent years, he did not obtain valid exit permits and did not apply for NS registration. In exchanges with the Central Manpower Base (CMB), Lim’s mother claimed that she and her son had “overlooked their NS matter” and stated that they had not received any letters about it.
In 2016, Lim’s lawyer wrote to CMB to ask to allow him to renounce his Singapore citizenship, but was rejected.
Lim returned to Singapore on March 27, 2018 and informed the CMB after previously telling them that he would be returning. She enlisted in the Singapore Civil Defense Force and completed her national service on August 13 this year.
Now he says he wants to keep his Singapore citizenship, “as he does not speak Malay well and intends to work here instead of Malaysia,” Deputy Prosecutor Sean Teh said.
The Defense Ministry had previously said that 14 NS offenders have been jailed since 2017.
He said that all male Singaporean citizens and permanent residents “have a duty to serve SN and it is important that NS has the support and commitment of all Singaporeans.”
“To achieve this, we have to adhere to the fundamental principles of universality and fairness in NS. If we allow Singapore citizens or PRs abroad to bypass NS or choose when they want to serve NS, we are not being fair. with the The vast majority of our national military who serve their country diligently and the institution of the National Society will be undermined, “MINDEF said in its previous statement.
Lim has not been sentenced and will return to court on October 15 for a further mention of his case.
For each count of failing to fulfill your responsibility under the Enlistment Act, you could be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S $ 10,000, or both.
