Singapore PR gets 10 weeks' jail for defaulting on NS obligations
The court heard that Thirumal Pavithran, a permanent resident, obtained a deferment for his National Service until he completed his secondary school studies in India, but he stayed there until he completed his university studies.
SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old Singapore permanent resident (PR) was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail on Thursday (June 20), after admitting he had defaulted on his National Service (NS) obligations for about five years and seven months.
Thirumal Pavithran, an Indian national who gained permanent residency here in June 1997 as a three-year-old, pleaded guilty to four charges under the Enlistment Act.
The State Courts heard that he attended primary and secondary school in Singapore from 2001 to 2009. In May 2009, he left for India to continue with his secondary school education there.
While overseas, he turned 16.5 years of age on Nov 1, 2010.
All male Singaporeans and PRs who are liable to serve NS must get an exit permit if they are travelling overseas for three months or longer, after they turn 16.5 years old until their enlistment. Thirumal failed to obtain an exit permit.
A notice informing Thirumal to register for NS was sent to his registered address here on July 22, 2011, while a further reporting order was also sent to that address, telling him to report to the Central Manpower Branch for medical screening. He failed to comply with both.
Thirumal returned to Singapore in late September, 2011 and spent about a week here before returning to India.
Then, about a year later, he returned here on Oct 16, 2012. About a week later, he was arrested by the police.
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The day after his arrest, he reported to the Central Manpower Branch, registered for NS and underwent a medical exam, where he was found to be fit for service. He confirmed that his place of residence was the registered address.
He received his enlistment notice on Jan 2, 2013.
However, about two months later, on the day he was supposed to report at the Basic Military Training Centre to start serving his NS, he requested a deferment.
His reason was that he would complete his studies in India only in May 2013, before going to university soon after.
On April 1, 2013, the Central Manpower Branch told him in an email that he was eligible for deferment only until May 31, 2013 for him to complete his secondary school studies.
It added that it would send a fresh enlistment notice to his registered address, informing him that he was scheduled for enlistment in the June 2013 intake. He did not respond, and failed to enlist again.
He finally returned to Singapore on July 8, 2016 after completing his university studies in India. He has since completed serving his NS on May 12 this year.
In mitigation, Thirumal, who was not represented by a lawyer, said that he was under the impression that he would be liable for NS only when he turned 18.
When District Judge John Ng asked if he now accepted that he had an incorrect understanding of the law, he responded: “At that point of time I didn’t know, but I know it now.”
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse,” the judge replied.
For each charge of remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit, while being liable to register for NS under the Enlistment Act, he could have been fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to three years, or received both a jail term and a fine.
