Son of senior lawyer jailed 16 weeks for defaulting on NS
Jonathan Tan (L), 28, charged with defaulting on his national service (NS), leaves the State Courts with his father Mr Tan Chee Meng, Senior Counsel and deputy chairman of WongPartnership, on Feb 2, 2017. Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY
SINGAPORE — The elder son of senior lawyer Tan Chee Meng was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail on Thursday (Feb 2) for defaulting on his National Service (NS) obligations for over a decade.
Jonathan Tan Huai En, 28, was supposed to start serving his sentence immediately but was allowed to be released on a S$10,000 bail after indicating that he intends to appeal the court’s decision.
In sentencing Tan, District Judge Shawn Ho stressed that NS obligations apply to all eligible Singaporean males: “An individual cannot cherry-pick when he serves NS ... It would be unfair to allow an individual to defer his NS so as to further his education of life pursuits and thereby gain an advantage over his peers who would have had to sacrifice by postponing such pursuits.”
Even if one is residing overseas, he should return to fulfil his NS obligations to “negate any unfair advantage over his local peers”, added the judge, noting that Tan had amassed two degrees and landed a career at a multinational company in Canada in the time he defaulted on serving NS.
He returned to Singapore and started serving NS on Jan 8 last year as a preventive medicine technician.
The court was told that Tan migrated to Canada with his family in December 2000 because he and his brother were unable to cope with studying Chinese language in school. He received
Canadian citizenship in 2005, and continued to study and work there.
Only his father, a Senior Counsel and deputy chairman of WongPartnership, remained in Singapore due to a lack of work opportunities overseas.
The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) sent three notices between December 2005 and June 2006 informing Tan to register for NS and medical screening. Central Manpower Base (CMPB) officers also visited his father’s registered address at a Hillview condominium twice.
His father informed CMPB in 2009 that Tan wanted to give up his Singapore citizenship and asked if his son’s NS obligations could be waived, but was told that he would first have to serve NS before renouncing his citizenship.
CMPB also told Mr Tan Chee Meng that his son had been classified as a defaulter, and would have to return to Singapore as soon as possible.
Seeking a jail term of five months, the prosecution charged that Tan had benefited from his Singapore citizenship by completing his primary education here, but never renounced his citizenship despite moving to Canada and becoming a citizen there.
The defence, however, pleaded for a fine or community-based sentence.
District Judge Ho said a custodial term in Tan’s case was “entirely foreseeable” given the length of his default period. He noted that Mindef had “consistently and publicly” stated — since a Ministerial Statement in 2006 — that it would be asking the prosecution to press for jail sentences in “serious cases” of more than two years’ default.
The judge said he had intended to impose a 20-week jail term but granted Tan a one-month reduction after considering a testimonial from Tan’s superior in NS, who described him as an “excellent trainee”, and a “role model” with an “excellent work ethic”.
He also took into account Tan’s plea of guilt and the fact that he surrendered himself.
Tan’s younger brother Isaac, 25, has also returned to serve NS and is under investigation.
