National Service Deferment Procedure in Singapore.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Fri, 03 Sep 2010 8:58 am

The odds of getting picked up with your US passport is negligible at best I'd think. If, when you naturalized, changed your moniker to an anglo name then they would have no way of tracing you unless they were really out to be vindictive and checked any and every asian on every flight from every country in the world against their deserter rolls against the traveler's DOB & ethnicity. Nah. Don't think you got too much to worry about.

However, trying to get a job here might be a little more difficult as you would have a hard time "doctoring" your high school diploma to reflect your current name. As you have pointed out, you were naturalized during your uni days so I am assuming your Bachelor's degree in in your US name. I'd say you are home free, unless you have family here and were somehow linked to them while here. If that were to happen, I'm afraid they'd really hang your out to dry for quite a while, PhD or no. They would rather make an example out of someone in order to stop others rather than let you back with whatever technology you might be able to bring.

sms

GreatScientist · Post by **GreatScientist** » Sat, 11 Sep 2010 1:35 pm

@ sms

Are you very sure if changing name and with a new name in a US passport will be a good idea to return to Singapore WITHOUT Mindef and immigration authority aware of your present in SG ?

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Sat, 11 Sep 2010 2:52 pm

GreatScientist wrote: @ sms

Are you very sure if changing name and with a new name in a US passport will be a good idea to return to Singapore WITHOUT Mindef and immigration authority aware of your present in SG ?

Not I'm not sure at all. In fact, it's all in place to do just the opposite. I've always tried to err on the side of caution so the following was my response and 'koalabear's' response to me on another thread yesterday (which is my normal position ironically).

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/sutra4 ... tml#479839 The last two posts......

Koalabear wrote:
sundaymorningstaple wrote:The odds were probably in your favour as, unless they were having a slow day or a gap in arrival flights, they might not do a hard look. Having a China POB and a US Citizen passport would not initially draw any queries. It would depend on if they are using canned searches based on ethnicity, name & age with a crosscheck of "runners" then you name will surely pop up as you left after the age of 11 and most probably didn't apply for an exit permit either.

Of course, with the speed of mainframes today, they could conceivably do a search on ANY male who appears to be of a certain age and ethnicity and it probably wouldn't slow down the system appreciably as the list would be updated daily and it obviously wouldn't be that long either, so it could possibly send up a red flag "for further questioning". Therefodre, in the paraphrased words of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry........ Do you feel lucky?
Actually it is VERY EASY. Birth-Date match? -> yes Ok we have someone with the same birthdate as a defaulter lets see what he looks like -> Chinese? -> yes The largest ethnic race in Singapore! Lets ask where this guy is born -> born in same place as database? -> yes quietly press red button below counter while reassuring you everything is alright and take you to a private room for some kopi, thumb print matching and photo ID.
ALL MATCH? -> if yes, end of story.

There is less than 1% NS default rate every year. How long do you think the mainframe needs to cross check your birthdate with a list of less than 10000 dates?

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 10:08 am

GreatScientist · Post by **GreatScientist** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 1:41 pm

@ mad scientist
- SG born
- Not under SG scholarship.
* Mindef did grant me NS deferment for tertiary edu because I m able to commence Uni. NS laws applied but such cases are rare!
* MS , I do have full respect for you n my ID is NOT an insult to you. If it was, my apology to you. Good night .

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 2:20 pm

[quote="GreatScientist"
* MS , I do have full respect for you n my ID is NOT an insult to you. If it was, my apology to you. Good night .[/quote]

MS was replying totally.....

and did not take any offense at it I assure you. I doubt that either of us take things personally here Therein lies the problem with "real" scientists.....

They take everything too seriously....

Oh, that was also tongue-in-cheek!

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 6:13 pm

GreatScientist · Post by **GreatScientist** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:23 pm

Good morning SMS n Mad Scientist

Thank for your comments n appreciated.

@ MS

Oki Doggie, I m playing my card n it is SG loss .
Hv a great week n enjoy the coming moon cake fest. Ciao Ciao :

PsychoJet2 · Post by **PsychoJet2** » Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:53 pm

GS-

Are you interested in a resolution to your NS situation because you want to return to live in Singapore or simply for the possibility to visit as a tourist? For me, I have no intentions to return to Singapore as a resident/citizen or any thing remotely close to it. For me, I have been away from Singaporean life and culture for close to 20 yrs and have established my life in the US too much to even consider giving it up. All I want is to be able to return as a tourist, but that appears not to be. Even though I'm not currently an industry scientist like yourself, I am a US military trained scientist with expertise in WMDs and counterterrorism. I know my skills and experience would be highly desirable to the Singapore govt, but like I said, I have absolutely no desire or inclination to abandon the source of my education and livelihood. The US govt provided me with the scholarships that funded my education while the Singapore govt provided nothing at all (since I left at age 9). My only mistake was the procurement of the Pink IC when I returned on a vacation at age 13 (have not step foot in Singapore since - for close to 20 yrs now). I don't believe a $75K bond was ever furnished by my parents. Oh well.

GreatScientist · Post by **GreatScientist** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:30 am

@ Phycho

Hi there, Thk for your post, I am not keen for a resolution to my NS saga. I was told it could be solved behind closed door if I decided to be home(SG), Mindef has double standards. Like you I prefer to stay in US for my research.

Ciao, hv a good day.

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 4:08 am

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Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 4:18 am

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GreatScientist · Post by **GreatScientist** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 6:05 am

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Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 6:20 am

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PsychoJet2 · Post by **PsychoJet2** » Mon, 13 Sep 2010 8:38 am

MS - thanks for your great insights. Unfortunately, even though the name in my US passport is greatly different from my Singapore name, the passport does indicate Singapore as my country of birth. Therefore, I got no recourse.

GS - Unless you plan on leaving the US and returning to life in Singapore, I don't really see it being worth it at all for either of us. We both have well-established PhD careers in the US (you within industry and myself for the US govt). What would really be the point of returning to be fined, forced to undergo NS, just to leave Singapore after NS and returning to the US after being away from your career for 2-3 yrs? Does not make sense at all.

I don't understand why the Singapore govt would not just let people like us renounce the citizenship ESPECIALLY since we have no intentions of returning to live there. Only interested in visiting as tourists, which I thought would be something the govt would want since tourists bring $$$$ into the local economy.

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