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SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man, who left for Malaysia when he was about a year old, finally returned to serve in his national service in 2018.
By then, 28-year-old Basil Lim Boon Hoh had been in breach of his obligations to the National Society for almost 10 years.
Lim, who also has Malaysian citizenship, pleaded guilty on Thursday (October 1) to two counts under the Enlistment Act.
Two other similar charges will be considered during his sentencing, which is expected to be Oct. 15.
Court documents indicate that Lim had been out of Singapore without a valid exit permit for a total of nine years, 11 months and 16 days.
His mother is Malaysian, while his father, with whom he is no longer in contact, is Singaporean.
The court heard that Lim is Singaporean by birth, but left for Malaysia when he was about a year old.
While he was granted Malaysian citizenship in 2001, his mother still applied for a Singapore NRIC on his behalf in 2007 because she wanted him to have a choice in the future, according to court documents.
Lim’s father informed him of his obligations to NS before he was 10 years old.
But her mother told her when she was 16 that she could ignore these obligations as she had Malaysian citizenship.
Court documents indicate that two notices were sent in 2009 to an address in Malaysia that Lim’s mother had provided to the Central Manpower Base (CMPB).
One asked him to register online for his NS, while the other informed him that he had to report to CMPB. Lim couldn’t do both.
In 2016, Lim’s attorney wrote to CPMB asking that his client be allowed to renounce his Singapore citizenship.
This was rejected. Lim returned to Singapore in March 2018 and enlisted in August of that year. She completed her NS in August of this year.
The court heard that Lim now wants to keep his Singapore citizenship as he does not speak Malay well and intends to work here.
On Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Sean Teh urged the court to jail Lim for five months and 18 days, arguing that Lim had appeared at the CMPB at his own time.
Therefore, his surrender was “tactical and calculated,” and not out of “genuine remorse,” the DPP said.
Citing Lim’s mother in her mitigation statement, defense attorney Lim Kia Tong said she had provided CMPB with the address of a previous home in Malaysia and did not receive any physical letters regarding her son’s NS obligations.
He also kept this from Lim, as he did not want him to return to Singapore, the lawyer added.
According to an earlier statement from the Ministry of Defense (Mindef), 14 NS offenders have been imprisoned since the High Court established a sentencing framework for such offenders in 2017.
The ministry had previously said that it would be unfair to the vast majority of national servicemen who serve their country diligently, if Singaporeans or permanent residents abroad are allowed to evade NS or choose when they want to serve.
The institution of SN will also be undermined, Mindef said.
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