by Daniel Yap

He was born and educated in Thailand, served in the Royal Thai Army and is no longer a Singapore citizen. Yet Ekawit Tangtrakarn, 24, now faces a potential jail term of nine weeks for defaulting on his national service (NS) obligations.

Ekawit, whose mother is Singaporean and father is Thai, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (28 August) to remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit, the typical charge for NS defaulters.

The Thai national’s case follows closely on the revelation that Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan, who left Singapore at age 11, is “wanted” here for a similar offence.

Unlike Kwan, Ekawit’s case has received far more public sympathy. He has no substantial connections to Singapore. His citizenship by descent was registered by his mother when he was a year old, but he ceased to be a citizen by descent after he failed to take the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty by age 22.

The two cases struck close to home. I have just relocated my family to Finland, my wife’s home country. My children are citizens of both Finland and Singapore, although they currently only hold Singapore passports. Four of them have NS liabilities.

I am not the only one. While no statistics have ever been published on how many Singaporeans also hold another passport (in essence dual-citizens), the Population In Brief 2017 report shows that between 2006 and 2016, the percentage of marriages in the Republic between a Singapore citizen and a non-citizen was between 36 and 41 per cent. In other words, children from more than one third of all unions could potentially be de-facto dual citizens.

The numbers before 2006 may be very similar. Singapore has long been a global hub, where international trade is facilitated by multi-national labour. There is no reason to think that the statistic will change significantly in the coming decade.

What about my sons?

View photos A military contingent from the Singapore Armed Forces at the National Day Parade celebrations at The Float at Marina Bay on 9 August, 2018. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo) More

I remember clearly the phone conversation I had this year with a Ministry of Defence (Mindef) officer who was supposed to answer my questions about dual citizenship and NS. The call was as informative as it was confusing.

An earlier call to the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) had only revealed that renunciation of Singapore citizenship is impossible until age 21. Mindef had the rest of the information I needed. It was as the recent reports had clarified: NS liability under the Enlistment Act begins at 16 and a half, but my children will need exit permits when they turn 13 (I, too, will need an exit permit until I turn 50).

I was concerned about the bond. Four children at $75,000 each is the price of an apartment. The officer assured me that the bond was only for exit permits longer than two years. As long as I was happy to renew the exit permit every two years, I needn’t worry about the bond.

Finland allows dual citizenship and for minors to renounce their citizenship. It also has mandatory national service. Should my children serve in the Finnish Army first, would they also be able to serve in the SAF? Or vice versa? The answer was yes – there is no restriction against serving in multiple militaries, at least from Mindef’s point of view. That answer struck me as oddly pragmatic for a country that doesn’t allow dual citizenship.

I asked specifically if any of my sons, especially considering that one of them is only a year old, could theoretically give up their citizenship without serving NS. I don’t recall the precise answer, but I was given the clear impression that it was a negative. Perhaps the officer merely repeated the point that renunciation was impossible until age 21, and that enlistment is at age 18. Was it phrased to say “no” without saying “no”? In any case, that was the only answer I could get out of her.

Story continues