Now, I am not sure if the outcry against Melvyn Tan's sentence was because of "very strong support for national service", or it was really because people, especially the menfolk, were just pissed off at the double standards.
Want to suffer must together suffer! Want to geng then all geng together! All for one and one for all!
Support simi support.
Since we are on the topic, Mr Wang has an interesting insight on denouncing your Singapore citizenship ("The Singapore constitution forbids male Singaporeans from renouncing their citizenship until they turn 21. Effectively this imposes the NS obligation on all of them, since enlistment is at age 18"), and more on the Melvyn Tan case.
Actually, when you think about it, Melvyn is now a British citizen coming back to Singapore as a Foreign Talent. Not bad leh. I also want to be a ex-Singaporean Foreign Talent.
ST Forum
Nov 30, 2005
NS: Mindef studying adequacy of penalties
I REFER to Mr Henry Ong Ling Tiong's letter, 'Firm stand needed: Fine or jail' (ST, Nov 26), where he suggested that punishments for national-service defaulters in the Enlistment Act be reviewed. Members of Parliament have also filed a number of questions.
It is heartening to note the very strong support for national service shown by the public in its reaction to the case of pianist Melvyn Tan.
Mindef has been reviewing the Enlistment Act to bring it up to date. This review includes a careful study of the adequacy of the current penalties to allow for firm action to be taken against those who do not fulfil their duty.
Mindef will give a full response on the matter when the review is completed.
Col Benedict Lim
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Defence
