Awol For 30 Years And Only Got $5000 Fine?

[ricohflex]

wow, act of terror :bsmilie: haha...

I also went overseas many years (having served NS before that), came back, not even gone to 1 ICT since ord 1997. No unit also until last year December (my heart sunk by default!!! so don't flame me hoh ;p ) but I was never recalled back when they had 2 recall-mannings. 1 more recall coming early next year.... but no ICT dates or whatsoever.

..

In my time doing ICT SAF was strict.
There was a sergeant who joined us in one ICT. He was about 38 years old.
Think he was a lawyer who worked overseas for years.
Suppose times have changed.
Personally I have gone through a lot of very tough NS times and reservist ICT.
ippt is quite ok and BCTC is worse.

I think the present change in SAF is for the better.
if it is not properly monitored, wanton calling up of citizens for ICT can become abusive.
I believe that for the "tan jiak" regulars, calling up reservists as often as possible
is important to keep themselves employed or career advancement.

by the way melvyn was a schoolmate and he was plump and rather effeminate when young.
I do not think that he "siammed" i.e. escaped NS purposely.
He was too young to make this kind of choice when sent overseas.
If anything, his parents made the choice for him.

I think he is the poorer as a person for having missed NS.
It would do him a lot of good to mix in the melting pot of NS experience and
know about fellow citizens from much less privileged backgrounds.

 

[centuryegg]

In my time doing ICT SAF was strict.
There was a sergeant who joined us in one ICT. He was about 38 years old.
Think he was a lawyer who worked overseas for years.
Suppose times have changed.
Personally I have gone through a lot of very tough NS times and reservist ICT.
ippt is quite ok and BCTC is worse.

I think the present change in SAF is for the better.
if it is not properly monitored, wanton calling up of citizens for ICT can become abusive.
I believe that for the "tan jiak" regulars, calling up reservists as often as possible
is important to keep themselves employed or career advancement.

by the way melvyn was a schoolmate and he was plump and rather effeminate when young.
I do not think that he "siammed" i.e. escaped NS purposely.
He was too young to make this kind of choice when sent overseas.
If anything, his parents made the choice for him.

I think he is the poorer as a person for having missed NS.
It would do him a lot of good to mix in the melting pot of NS experience and
know about fellow citizens from much less privileged backgrounds.

Well I think the issue is with how Singaporeans are taking this issue. I supposed Mindef should have just kept quiet about the whole matter instead of making it front page news. It's bound to create discomfort among most males who have served in the forces, families who have lost loved ones during NS. We all know that there are many "classified" incidents in the army, one example "white horse" classification. However haven't we all lived with the fact that a minister's son would be treated with special care? However just don't shove it in our face.

The guy involved might not have made the decision himself and he must have lived for 30 years overseas never able to come back home. However the least he could do was to at least apologise......... Instead of bragging how he went to pursue his dreams.... To us, it's a snub in our face saying that "THE RICH, CONNECTED, SONS OF VVIPs" are special and hence will be excused for not serving NS.

 

[itchy]

Grossly entertaining read amidst exam preps...Sadly, even if anyone pities him for not having gone thru the good training and close ties fostered during NS, does anyone really think he cares? We've all had a common experience but for one that has never experienced it, he wouldn't even come close to comprehending the meaning of brotherhood. So it goes "It takes one to know one". You pity him, he just smile for camera "CLICK!".

Yea 5k is way too light a penalty, whether under military or civilian jurisdiction, he should have at least given a period of time to serving the country if he wanted to retain citizenship. His age might not deem it feasible to go thru bmt (but frankly, what is bmt these days.....), but he could have served in MDC, or does his busy schedule prevent him from doing so? It's ridiculous... Jehova Witnesses have to put in an amount of time too. What about them? No money to go overseas to escape from NS, no other option but to be detained. It's just damn sad. Some argue that it's not about the rich, I say it still is. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RICH. If you're rich, you escape NS, you come back 30 years later (hey your family can afford to fly to and fro for 30 years, no sweat) and pay a meagre sum that equates to one year worth of NUS fees. How filial one can be to fly back and pay this sum after his parents have difficulty flying to and fro vast distances just to see their son when he could've come back when told to do so to serve for two and a half years and they could've gotten to see him EVERY SINGLE DAY after bmt. I'm sure he'd come out more rugged and tough,but let's not forget the risk of destroying his magic fingers and blurring his creative edge.

Dreams shattered because of NS? Don't give me that. He probably would've been sent to MDC aaanyways. It's all about the money, it's all about the dum dum deelee dum dum...

 

[bigfatfish]

i remember when i was an instructor in SBMT (nee soon camp) back in 1985, there was a BMT recruit, 39 years old, who was a lecturer in UK and decided to come back to singapore after avoiding NS for many years, he paid a fine (ard $5k also i think), did his BMT, and served 1 year in LEO to fulfil his NS liability. i rem he had a pretty tough time in BMT becos of his age, but he still managed to go through it together with the rest of the 18 year old recruits.

this is interesting.. so did he get any prefrential treatment due to his age..i mean , he could well be older than the CSM or OC .

 

[jasphotography]

Didn't MINDEF change the rule to make the onus on you to do your own RT after u fail.

When was the rule changed? I failed on the 22nd March 2005. I didn't receive any memo leh, my unit sergeant idle maybe.

Hey same here, haven't kena ICT since I ORDed in '96. I only found out my unit accidentally when they sent me a recall manning notice recently. Other than that, no official notice. Never left Singapore either.

I found out my unit only after one sergeant (or was it an officer ?!?!) physically came knocking on my door, handed the decree to my family... SAF very respect me, haha ...

I think he is the poorer as a person for having missed NS.
It would do him a lot of good to mix in the melting pot of NS experience and
know about fellow citizens from much less privileged backgrounds.

agree... only if the 2 or 2 1/2 years can be shortened to 1. Many lose their girlfriends during that 2 years you know ;p

 

[thoa_rs]

As much as I am okay with the concept of NS, I think it's about time government made some changes to allow young Singaporeans to pursue their dreams and serve their country at the same time. I play a musical instrument too, it takes a lot of commitment to excell in it and many hours of practice everyday. I cannot imagine an up and coming musician at a crucial development point of his art being able to practise only twice a week if he was posted to a stay-in unit. It's not just the musicians, I've seen young entrepeneurs having to put their businesses on hold, promising models putting their career on halt, because of their duty as male singaporeans.

I am not supporting the guy, I am just looking at the situation as a whole.

 

[syncpuppet]

correction 50K is only a fraction of a peanut. ;p

You mean peanut eaten by NKF?

 

[reachme2003]

Colonel Benedict Lim, Director, Public Affairs, Mindef replied in st today. nothing more than what we already knew about the pianist case. just restating the official stance of mindef and our law. he did not specifically addressed the issues raised in letters in connection with the case. disappointed.

 

[evq]

As much as I am okay with the concept of NS, I think it's about time government made some changes to allow young Singaporeans to pursue their dreams and serve their country at the same time.

I believe everyone who served NS agreed to this point. But till there's a better way of solving this, NS is still the priority as long as S'pore, as a Nation, is concerned.
Every country has their own Rules & Law, and each of their citizen has their role to fullfill & contribute to their nation.
To let u choose, would u rather serve that 2yr & 10yr cycle or expenience Kuwait's fate in 1990? Or have ur human Rights, freedom etc, but high crime rate, fear of staying out late etc?

Just for Fun
I view S'pore as something like: living under ur parents' roof. :bsmilie:
Most of ur life, u are sort of being taken care by them. U follow their rules, u are more or less out of trouble. Neighbours will not dare to bully u cos ur parents are around. Ur brothers stand together to protect u. But Freedom? limited. Yes, Parents do have the favourite child, they usually received bigger portions of food/gifts.:thumbsd:
Some will like it, some will not.
And my favourite Dr Chee Soon Juan is like ur parent's step brother(Uncle). Did not inheritage the Family's wealth. Bad mouthed ur parents. Hahhahaa....
But to be honest, I sometimes do pissed off with our parents for certain rules, decision & reasoning. But will other foster parents (Dr Chee) do a better job?

 

[evq]

Colonel Benedict Lim, Director, Public Affairs, Mindef replied in st today. nothing more than what we already knew about the pianist case. just restating the official stance of mindef and our law. he did not specifically addressed the issues raised in letters in connection with the case. disappointed.

As expected, cos they can't find a better reason. This is a standard reply, just copy & paste from MINDEF's PC. Lets wait & see.

 

[reachme2003]

btw, our pianist concerned will be performing and conducting classes in dec at the esplanade. perhaps, this is his national service?

 

[evq]

btw, our pianist concerned will be performing and conducting classes in dec at the esplanade. perhaps, this is his national service?

Is he doing this for free? Free concert & lessons?

 

[vince123123]

the rule was changed in 2004 - there's no memo to receive - if you fail and don't go for RT yourself, you should receive a court martial summons or something ...lemme go find the procedure.

If you fail and din' kena, then u must have slipped through the cracks - keep quiet and hope they don't come after you years later hehe

When was the rule changed? I failed on the 22nd March 2005. I didn't receive any memo leh, my unit sergeant idle maybe.

 

[evq]

the rule was changed in 2004 - there's no memo to receive - if you fail and don't go for RT yourself, you should receive a court martial summons or something ...lemme go find the procedure.

If you fail and din' kena, then u must have slipped through the cracks - keep quiet and hope they don't come after you years later hehe

Yeah, now only receive sms notifications. suppose to visit website to have the hardcopies printed out.

 

[zaren]

this is interesting.. so did he get any prefrential treatment due to his age..i mean , he could well be older than the CSM or OC .

no he did not receive any preferential treatment because of his age. but of course he was much more mature than the rest of the other recruits, so he was looked on as the wise and intelligent "uncle" in the platoon. as far as i know, he went through all the tough training, PT and punishment as any other recruit. i think by the end of BMT, even the CSM and OC respected him for surviving the training. imagine doing SOC at the age of 39?!

:bsmilie:

 

[Gosu_John]

the piano is mightier than the sword.

LOL

 

[espn]

the piano is mightier than the sword.

LOL

Whahaha... good one there. :thumbsup:

 

[zaren]

the piano is mightier than the sword.

LOL

"ok...see that tree over there? carry ur piano overhead, duckwalk to the tree and back! u dun come back b4 i finish counting to 50...semulah!"

:bsmilie:

 

[evq]

"ok...see that tree over there? carry ur piano overhead, duckwalk to the tree and back! u dun come back b4 i finish counting to 50...semulah!"

:bsmilie:

Hahahahhaa:bsmilie:

 

[sORe-EyEz]

the piano is mightier than the sword.

LOL

u thinking of Kung-Fu Hustle II? hahahaa... :bsmilie: