I REFER to Mr Yong Yin Min's letter last Saturday, 'NS not a debt citizens must repay'. I strongly disagree with many of his views.

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There is a Chinese saying "kill one to warn the hundreds."

The son of a Steel Company Magnate renounced his PR and left for the US only to have it reinstated due to the untimely demise of his father so that he could return to family and business in Singapore.

I am the Father of these three young men. Please let me clarify some facts that did not appear in the original article in S.T., or appear to have registered by most posters.

The case of my sons is NOT first and foremost about whether they should serve NS, and where, it is about the right of those born in Singapore with one parent Singaporean and the other foreign, and there are more and more of them.

In our case our three sons were born here in 1975, 1977 and 1978. They became Norwegian Citizens upon birth as they had to follow Father's Passport under the immigration rules then, at the peak of the "Stop at two / Two is enough" campaign. They have always held Norwegian Passport and chose to retain that at the age of 21. They are residents of Norway and all three has done their NS in Norway, as is their obligation under Norwegian Law.

They were effectively Dual Citizens until they reach the legal age of 21, upon which they HAD to chose one and renounce the other, before they reach the age of 22. Norway and Singapore does not allow dual citizenship after that age unless in special cirumstances. This is per Singapore's Constitution and according to UN Human Rights Charter, and is not disputed.

Today two of them are professional soldiers and are still serving in the Norwegian Army's "Rapid Deployment Battalion", ready to go anywhere their country elect to send them on short notice.

The oldest is a 12 year veteran and Second Lieutenant, the youngest has abt. 10 years service and is now Sargent. They have been in active peace keeping service in Bosnia, Lebanon, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Both are due back in Afghanistan soon, for the 3rd and 4th time respectively. This time to train the Afghan Army.

Are these your typical "defaulters"? No, they are three young men that has been caught up in a web of draconian NS rules that does not take into account the rights dual citizens have to chose, and the obligations they have to their the country who's citizenship they hold. If they had chosen to become Singapore Citizen at 21, they would have done their NS her without fail and may have enrolled in the Army here, who knows.

In case they should come back her, serve their NS and still want to retain their Norwegian Citizenship at the end of it, would they be allowed to do so? No, they would they be stripped of their Singapore Citizenship and possibly deported as "non-desirables". Even punished for having held dual citizenship after the age of 22?

You can say that the NS rules are not draconian, but it affects these three young men adversely in all ways. They are unable to travel to Singapore for a family visit, although they hold only Norwegian passport, and have always done so. If they should seek a job that involves travel to these parts, they may not be able to do so as they risk arrest, if they should land in Singapore.
How would this look on a job application? "I can travel to any country in the world, but not to Singapore, because I would be arrested on arrival because I happened to have been born there".

With the present discussion of the negative "brain drain" from Singapore and how to get overseas Singaporeans to return, the first place to look is at the NS "problems" that keeps more and more from returning, especially mixed couples with young sons who are, or will come, in the same situation as our three sons.

But NS is NOT the issue here. The issue is the rights of individuals to chose their own destiny. Any dual citizen who intend to remain in Singapore after the age of 21 would be eligible for the draft, whether he holds Singapore passport or not. If he is residing outside Singapore and does not hold Singapore passport at that age, he should be allowed to return and serve, or renounce his right to a Singapore passport and be free of any NS obligations.
To "punish" young men for being born here serves no purpose and is not according to UN Human Rights Charter, or indeed according to the Singapore Constitution, which allow freedom of choice at/after 21 years of age.

I have called Singapore home for about 40 years and understand the need for a strong defense, and the draft to ensure the necessary manpower, with strict Laws and enforcement to ensure that.
But the way it is being done now does not serve the purpose. To force reluctant foreign nationals into service is not productive as they may not be around if the need should arise to defend the country, or indeed be willing to.

As for our three sons, they would probably try to get back here and volunteer, if Singapore should be attacked. That is in their character and they are well trained for the task.

Question: were those 3 boys called up for NS in Singapore because they were PR or they were citizens?

Singaporeans had never allowed dual citizenship, and the onus is on the parents to make a decision from the beginning which citizenship the sons would follow.

Second, upon taking up PR, the father should be aware that his children are automatically Singaporean PRs and eligible for NS as well.

Third, all these could have been avoided if the sons never held Singapore citizenship or PRship. There are many couples of mixed Singapore and foreign citizenship who understood the implications and chose to have their sons born outside Singapore or the father never taking up PR to avoid such a poser for their sons.

There is nothing wrong with making a choice to opt for a citizenship of the non-Singaporean parent.

What is wrong with this whole mess is the parents knowingly allowed the sons to be listed as either Singaporean or Singapore PR in the first place.

Sigh... First of all, my name is Premchand Brian in my IC. I stated that in my email. No idea why it was published as Brian Premchand.

Captombugge:
Thank you for the clarification.

Firstly, "Laws on NS not all that draconian" was the title The Straits Times gave to my letter. Mine originally had no title. The "not all that draconian" bit referred to the fact that one could successfully renounce citizenship before reaching 16 and a half years of age.

Secondly, I would like to make it clear that I am not commenting on your sons' motives in any way. It is obvious that they did not skip NS in order to avoid the life of a soldier. However, the fact still remains that they defaulted NS and are subject to the law. What they have done in Norway has no legal effect on the Enlistment Act here.

They were born in Singapore and are Singapore citizens. Even if they would defend Singapore in a crisis, or even if they end up reluctant to defend Singapore, should they be allowed to return to Singapore without penalty, it will set a precedent. More would try to avoid NS in a similar manner, with more dubious motives than those of your sons. I am currently serving NS. I wouldn't if I needen't; still, I understand that it is necessary for the greater good of the nation. But trust me, there are many others who don't, and would immediately exploit loopholes in the system to get themselves out of it.

Your sons are victims of conflicting laws, across two soverign states. It's unfortunate. Singapore can do more to resolve such issues, when people are called to become conscripts in two nations simultaneously. Still, despite how bitter MINDEF's decision may be, I feel it is the lesser evil, as compared to sending a statement that the Enlistment Act can be safely ignored.

Just to clarify.. if both parents are foreigners and have a child in Singapore.. the child is automatically Singaporean?.. I thought the child could choose the nationality upon reaching a certain age?

My opinion is similar to #5.

Let's say that according to Singapore's laws, the Bugge brothers could not decide on their citizenships before they reached 21. Mr Bugge could have decided it for them, by having Mrs Bugge give birth to the boys in Norway. When the boys were older, they could then have applied to become Singapore citizens( if they had wanted to).

I have a friend who works in Chongqing, China. He is a Singaporean. When his wife was about to deliver his son, he got his wife to return to Singapore to have his son born here. He decided even then, that he wanted his son to be a Singapore citizen.

Why didn't the parents make the decision before their children became 16 and a half years old? Why?

Most likely because they think they can play two legs on two boats. Now they find out that it cannot be done, they gripe.

To Coolbeagle:
I think my posting above has replies to your questions. They were born here of mixed parentage and therefore has the right to two Citizenship. They had no choice in this, but have to pick only one at 21, which they did.
They are NOT allowed to renounce their right to citizenship in either one of these countries before that age, but MUST do so before reaching 22.

Premchand Brian (in that order): Thank you for your posting, which is now mostly positive from our point of view. It is amazing what a few facts can do.

Your first point is mostly replied in the above.

Your second point that Singapore does not consider national service in another country as relevant to the NS obligations here is true, but not necessarily fair. They have not defaulted from NS in Norway, which is their home country and that should count also here. Norway have treaties with most countries to cover such cases of NS for dual citizen, but not with Singapore, for obvious reasons.

Whether these boys would defend Singapore in a crisis? They are NOT anti-Singapore, but regard themselves as Norwegian, as they have done all their life. I'm sure that if Singapore should be attacked, they would try their damndest to come here to volunteer, After all that is what they have trained for over many years now. They should be well enough qualified, but would Singapore permit them?

to 0517elias: They are of mixed parentage and should be allowed to chose at 21, but Singapore hasn't allowed them, even at 30, to do so. They are still regarded as dual citizens, although it is against both Singapore and Norwegian Laws. Does that make them Criminals?