A 28-year-old Singaporean who left for Australia to study when he was 11 years old have been sentenced to four months of imprisonment.

The man, Remington Fhang Lim, remained outside Singapore without a valid Exit Permit (EP) for more than eight years, before returning to Singapore to serve his national service (NS) in 2018.

Lim's father told CMPB that Lim intended to renounce his citizenship

Lim's parents are both former Singapore citizens, and hold Australian citizenship.

He studied in Rulang Primary School, a government-funded school in Singapore, from 1998 to 2003, completing his Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) in Singapore.

He and his family then left for Australia on Oct 16, 2003.

On June 13, 2008, a Registration Notice was sent by post to Lim's parents' local registered address, instructing him to register for NS online. A reminder was sent via post on July 11, 2008.

Lim failed to register for NS by July 21, 2008.

On July 24, 2008, a Further Reporting Order (FRO) was sent via post to the same address, asking him to report at Central Manpower Base (CMPB) on Aug. 26, 2008. He failed to report at CPMB on that date.

During this time, the local address was rented out by Lim's parents to a tenant. The correspondence sent to the local address were sent to Lim's real estate agent, who duly forwarded them to Lim's Australian address.

According to court documents, these correspondences were received by Lim's father, who informed Lim that he had received the same.

On Dec. 9, 2008, Lim's father informed CMPB that Lim intended to renounce his Singapore citizenship, citing the fact that he was studying in high school in Australia, and intended to further his studies in Australia.

CMPB sent a letter to Lim's father on Dec. 15, 2008, asking him to provide supporting documents for Lim's application for deferment from NS, and to remind him that the holding of foreign citizenship did not absolve male Singaporeans from their NS obligations.

Lim "did not put his Singapore Citizenship issues as a priority"

On March 5, 2009, CMPB sent a letter to Lim's father, informing him that the deferment application was not successful, and also that LIm had committed an offence for remaining outside of Singapore without a valid EP.

An FRO was attached to the letter, asking Lim to report at CMPB to register for NS on April 6, 2009. Lim did not do so.

Lim's father subsequently filed an appeal, stating that the Lim would not be reporting to CMPB as the FRO reporting date was during his high school certificate examination period.

However, his appeal was unsuccessful, and Lim was classified as an NS defaulter for remaining outside of Singapore without a valid EP, and for failing to register for NS.

Lim's father was advised that Lim was to report to CPMB to resolve his offences without delay, but there was no response from Lim's father thereafter. On Dec. 18, 2009, Lim reached the NS enlistment age of 18 years old.

Almost seven years later, on May 5, 2016, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) informed CMPB that the accused, who was 25 years-old then, had submitted an application to renounce his Singapore citizenship.

While his parents had reminded him to renounce his citizenship when he turned 21 in 2012, the accused allegedly "did not put his Singapore Citizenship issues as a priority", as he was focused on his university studies between 2010 and 2014.

On May 24, 2016, ICA informed Lim that his application to renounce his Singapore citizenship was withheld, and on Aug. 17, 2016, Lim called the NS Call Centre to enquire about his NS status.

After being informed that he had to return to Singapore and report at CMPB to resolve his offences, Lim sought legal assistance. Between November 2016 and March 2017, Lim's then-lawyers exchanged written correspondence with CMPB.

On March 7, 2017, Lim reported at CMPB, more than seven years after reaching his NS enlistment age.

Lim's lawyer claimed he did not know about his NS obligations

According to court documents, he was enlisted on April 3, 2018, and has since completed serving his full-time NS in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The Straits Times reported that Lim's defence counsel said that Lim had been "completely in the dark" about his NS obligations, as his father had been the one liaising with CMPB.

However, court documents state that from his time growing up in Singapore, and from encountering other Singaporeans who had migrated to Australia after he had moved there, Lim was aware that Singaporean males have to serve NS upon reaching the age of 18.

MINDEF emphasised that all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) have a duty to serve NS.

According to MINDEF, since the High Court set out the sentencing framework for NS defaulters in 2017, 14 defaulters, including Lim, have been sentenced to imprisonment.

Top image from SCDF.