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Man files appeal after being handed maximum 3-year jail term for dodging full-time national service
Published May 26, 2026, 04:46 PMUpdated May 26, 2026, 09:02 PM
Edmond Yao Zhi Hai was convicted in March following a trial for failing to report for enlistment, and in April for his immigration offences.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
SINGAPORE - A man who defaulted on his national service (NS) obligations for more than 21 years was on May 26 sentenced to three years’ jail and a fine of $3,000.
Edmond Yao Zhi Hai, 47, immediately filed an appeal through his lawyers, Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo, from Quahe Woo & Palmer.
His sentence comes after District Judge James Elisha Lee found Yao had evaded the whole of his full-time NS and post-operationally ready date (ORD) obligations as he was past 40 years old when he was arrested in 2021.
Yao was convicted in March following a trial for failing to report for enlistment, and in April for his immigration offences after admitting that despite being a Singaporean, he had repeatedly used his Indonesian passport to travel in and out of the Republic.
The judge noted that Yao’s defence had rested in part on the notion that he had been travelling openly in and out of Singapore without any enforcement action by the authorities, which he argued meant that they treated him as an Indonesian citizen.
The judge said a police gazette was raised in 1997, less than five days after Yao failed to report for enlistment, but it reflected Yao’s name in his Singapore NRIC.
Judge Lee said that on 13 occasions between 2008 and 2020, Yao had travelled using his Indonesian passport, which reflected a different name.
“It is important to note that Central Manpower Base (CMPB) had consistently made known to him and his parents that he had to serve his NS obligations.
“He had in blatant disregard failed to report for his enlistment,” said the judge.
“His failure to contact CMPB to resolve his NS liabilities can only be attributable to an outright refusal to acknowledge his NS obligations... It is disingenuous for him to now claim that there was no enforcement action taken against him when he had clearly contributed to his non-apprehension.”
Judge Lee said that in his view, any delay in enforcement action was materially contributed by Yao’s action and inaction.
Born in Singapore
According to court documents, Yao was a Singapore citizen by birth. His mother is a Singaporean and his father is an Indonesian.His Singapore birth certificate was issued in 1978. Yao was never issued a Singapore passport.
In 1979, his father successfully obtained Indonesian citizenship for his son and he was issued an Indonesian passport in 1983, under the name “Edmond Jauw Ming Siang”. The passport indicated his nationality as Indonesian.
Between 1984 and 1990, he studied at Catholic High School in Singapore, before moving to Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College.
On Jan 26, 1996, CMPB sent Yao a notice to register for NS. He had to complete an attached form and mail it back by Feb 9 that year.
CMPB received the completed national service registration form on Feb 7, 1996, which Yao had signed.
There was also a letter from his mother, stating that Yao wished to renounce his Singapore citizenship in favour of his Indonesian citizenship.
The letter also stated that Yao wished to defer NS until he reached the age of 21, upon which he would be able to renounce his Singapore citizenship.
CMPB replied in a letter that as Yao was a Singapore citizen by birth, he had to fulfil his NS liabilities.
It also said that only those who had not exercised the rights and privileges of Singapore citizenship could be deferred from NS until they reached the age of 21, pending the renunciation of their Singapore citizenship.
CMPB replied to Yao’s father to state that as his son had exercised his rights and privileges as a Singapore citizen, namely, by being educated here and completing his education at Raffles Junior College, he was required to fulfil his NS obligations without exception.
Yao did not report to CMPB for enlistment on Jan 23, 1997. He also did not comply with a second enlistment notice delivered by hand to his address, instructing him to report for enlistment the next day.
A police gazette was then put up for his arrest on Jan 28, 1997.
Court documents stated that he completed his further education abroad between July 1997 and June 2001.
In October 2003, Yao wrote to the Singapore Embassy in Indonesia, stating that he wanted to renounce his Singapore citizenship. The embassy told Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) about the matter.
ICA replied that this renunciation application was “withheld” under the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.
In January 2005, Yao married a Singaporean woman and used his Indonesian passport to register his marriage in Singapore.
He also applied to be a permanent resident, but ICA rejected his application, as he was still a Singaporean.
He was finally arrested at the ICA visitor services centre on Sept 1, 2021.
