$9,000 fine for former PR You Jiahao, 23, who defaulted on national service. No jail?

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$9,000 fine for former PR who defaulted on national service​

You Jiahao, 23, pleaded guilty to two charges of remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit.

ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG


Published Jun 25, 2026, 05:04 PM
Updated Jun 25, 2026, 05:16 PM

SINGAPORE – A man who left Singapore and defaulted on national service was fined $9,000 on June 25.

You Jiahao, 23, pleaded guilty to two charges of remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit.

Another two charges of failing to register for national service were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that the Chinese national became a permanent resident (PR) in January 2014 when he was 11 years old. He studied at a local secondary school.

In March 2016, an exit permit information letter was sent to his home, stating that he would be subject to exit permit regulations from his 13th birthday in May 2016.

In August 2020, You left Singapore. A registration notice was sent to his address on April 8, 2021, asking him to log into the national service portal to complete his NS registration by May 31, 2021.

However, You did not register. When the authorities discovered he had left Singapore, a police gazette was raised against him in August 2021.

On July 13, 2022, You e-mailed the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) asking for help to renew his re-entry permit. He acknowledged his duty to serve NS, but asked if it could be postponed until after he completed his studies in China.

CMPB responded to his e-mail on July 26, 2022, informing him that he had committed an offence under the Enlistment Act by failing to register for NS and remaining outside Singapore without an exit permit.

You was told to return to Singapore and report to CMPB.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority revoked his PR status on Aug 1, 2022.

This meant that he was no longer bound to serve NS.

You returned to Singapore only in March 2025, when he was arrested at Changi Airport.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon sought a fine of at least $9,000 for You.

He said: “The culpability of NS defaulters lies in the unfair advantage that they gain over their law-abiding peers by being able to pursue their personal goals (such as education or career advancements) while their peers were serving their NS obligations.”

For remaining outside Singapore without an exit permit, an offender can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to three years, or both.

 

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Under the Enlistment Act, military defaulters face a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both, for each charge. [1, 2]

Ryan Foong Xue Fei: Moved to Canada at age 11, allowed his exit permit to expire, and remained abroad for eight years to finish university and work. He returned to serve his NS but was still sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for the period of default.
Remington Fhang Lim: Moved to Australia at age 11 and stayed without an exit permit for close to nine years. Despite returning to complete his full NS term, he was sentenced to four months in prison.
Famous ones
The 12-Year NS Disruption
Patrick Tan—the son of Singapore’s former President, Dr. Tony Tan—was granted a total of 12 years of disruption from full-time NS to pursue medical and scientific training in the United States. (Singapore Parliament)
The Timeline: He completed his Basic Military Training (BMT) and the junior term of Officer Cadet School (OCS). He then disrupted his service from 1988 to 2000 to complete a 4-year pre-medical degree at Harvard University followed by an 8-year combined MD-PhD program at Stanford University.
Fulfilling His Liability: Upon graduating in 2000, he returned to Singapore to serve his remaining full-time NS liability. He was deployed as a Defence Medical Scientist at the Defence Medical Research Institute (DMRI).
Like Dr. Patrick Tan, Schooling is heavily associated with public discussions surrounding National Service (NS), though he was never an NS defaulter. Instead, he was granted a rare, performance-milestone-based long-term NS deferment by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF)