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Man dodged NS for 7 years to 'support family'
01 Sep 2010
SOURCE: The Straits Times
AT AGE 28, Goh Khim Siong has yet to serve a day of national service (NS).
He will, however, go through what Singaporean men nearly a decade younger go through – after serving his jail term for evading the draft.
He registered for NS in 2002, but was given deferments as a result of his appeals through various channels.
First, he asked for a deferment because of his polytechnic studies; and then, after dropping out, he said he had to work to support his family.
In August 2005, the Defence Ministry decided enough was enough and served him a notice to report for a medical review, but he failed to comply.
In the next five years, he evaded efforts by enlistment officers to nab him.
It was only in April this year that he was arrested. The Straits Times understands that he turned himself in at a police station.
Goh, who works as a supervisor in a courier company, pleaded guilty in June to evading NS and was fined $3,000 by a district court.
The prosecution appealed, arguing that he should be jailed for between three and six months.
He was jailed for four months yesterday.
Goh, who did not have a lawyer, tried to explain that he had to work to support his mother and a younger brother after his father left the family.
But this cut no ice with appeals judge V.K. Rajah, who told him he had wider responsibilities as a citizen and an overriding obligation to complete his NS.
The judge added: “You may have been a dutiful son, but in law, that’s not an excuse.”
He added that for male citizens, NS obligations have the highest priority, ahead of studies and personal reasons, and that he did not think individuals were in the position to decide independently not to enlist.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Lee told the court that between 2005 and last year, enlistment officers had gone to Goh’s home several times but failed to find him.
Yesterday, Goh responded to this, saying he did not dodge them and that he had been living at home all the while and was unaware of the visits.
