NS man fined for staying outside Singapore without valid exit permit

This article is more than 12 months old

ELENA CHONG

Dec 09, 2017 06:00 am

An operationally ready national serviceman who remained outside Singapore for almost 9½ years without a valid exit permit was fined $8,000 yesterday.

Wang Cheng Hsuan, 35, was fined another $1,500 for failing to notify the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) after having not received any notice from his national service unit for six consecutive months when he was subject to the Enlistment Act.

Wang, who completed full-time NS on Dec 27, 2002, failed to report to his NS unit on the due date of March 31, 2008. A police gazette was raised against him seven months later.

When he tried to renew his Singapore passport in Taiwan on April 17 this year, he was told to contact CMPB, which advised him to return to Singapore.

He did so on June 25. He said that he had initially gone to Taiwan and then studied in Japan between 2008 and 2012 before returning to Taiwan. He could have been fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to one year for breaching Enlistment Regulations and fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to three years for staying overseas without a valid exit permit. - ELENA CHONG