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PSP's Hazel Poa asks MFA about US citizen jailed for defaulting on NS, gets definitive 'no' reply
NCMP Hazel Poa had asked if the U.S. had made any representations on the case.
November 12, 2024, 03:52 PM
Brevity and efficiency go hand in hand.
On Nov. 11, Progress Singapore Party NCMP Hazel Poa asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the case of an American citizen in Singapore who was sentenced to nine weeks imprisonment on Oct. 7 2024.
NS Default
Poa did not named the individual, but the description of the case matches that of Garrett Alexander Gan Kok Leng.
Gan had been sentenced for defaulting on his national service requirements (NS), having believed that his obligations had been "extinguished" in 2006 after he renounced his Singaporean citizenship.
Gan had been an American citizen since birth, but was also a Singaporean citizen by descent, as his father was Singaporean.
Gan failed to appear for enlistment in October 2003 and was arrested in January 2024. He was subsequently sentenced to nine weeks' imprisonment after pleading guilty to two charges under the enlistment act for remaining outside of Singapore for over three years without an exit permit.
No
Poa asked if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received "any representations from the United States relating to the case of an American citizen who was sentenced to nine weeks' imprisonment" on Oct. 7 2024 for NS defaulting offences.
She also asked, if it had received any such representations, what the government's response was.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied: "No."
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Top images via MCI Singapore/YouTube, Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Facebook, & MINDEF/Facebook
