A man who failed to fulfill his National Service (NS) obligations in Singapore for nearly eight years while completing his university studies and working in Canada was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail on February 2nd. Ryan Foong Xue Fei, 26, is the 21st person to be jailed for NS default since the High Court set the sentencing framework for NS defaulters in 2017.

Foong, a Singaporean citizen by birth, moved to Canada when he was 11 years old. He received his first exit permit in 2009 and renewed it in 2011, but it expired in 2012. The Central Manpower Base sent him several letters and emails regarding his NS obligations, but Foong ignored them and continued to travel with his Canadian passport instead of his Singapore passport. Foong eventually returned to Singapore in November 2020 and was arrested at the checkpoint.

Foong's lawyer argued for a reduction in sentence due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the prosecutor argued that Foong could have returned before the pandemic. Foong addressed the judge directly and stated that he had tried to contact the manpower base in November 2019, but was unable to receive a firm answer and waited until February 2020 to return to Singapore. For defaulting on NS, Foong could have faced up to three years in jail and a fine of up to S$10,000.

Source: Channel News Asia