SINGAPORE – A man who defaulted on his national service (NS) obligations for more than 21 years was on May 26 sentenced to three years’ jail and a fine of $3,000.
Edmond Yao Zhi Hai, 47, immediately filed an appeal through his lawyers Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer.
His sentence comes after District Judge James Elisha Lee found Yao had evaded the whole of his full-time NS and post-Operationally Ready Date (ORD) obligations as he was past 40 years old when he was arrested in 2021.
Yao was convicted in March following a trial for failing to report for enlistment, and in April for his immigration offences after admitting that despite being a Singaporean, he had repeatedly used his Indonesian passport to travel in and out of the Republic.
The judge noted that Yao’s defence had rested in part on the notion that he had been travelling openly in and out of Singapore without any enforcement action by the authorities, which he argued meant that they treated him as an Indonesian citizen.
The judge said a police gazette was raised in 1997, less than five days after Yao failed to report for enlistment, but it reflected Yao’s name in his Singapore NRIC.
Judge Lee said that on 13 occasions between 2008 and 2020, Yao had travelled using his Indonesian passport, which reflected a different name.
“It is important to note that Central Manpower Base (CMPB) had consistently made known to him and his parents that he had to serve his NS obligations.
“He had in blatant disregard failed to report for his enlistment,” said the judge.
“His failure to contact CMPB to resolve his NS liabilities can only be attributable to an outright refusal to acknowledge his NS obligations… It is disingenuous for him to now claim that there was no enforcement action taken against him when he had clearly contributed to his non-apprehension.”
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