SINGAPORE: A Singaporean by birth stayed in Hong Kong and defaulted on his National Service obligations for more than 10 years, but chose to return to Singapore for the sake of his family after his business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
His parents divorced around 1997, when he was three years old. His father took him to live in Hong Kong, while his mother remained in Singapore. Around this time, in March 2011, Lau cut off contact with his mother. A police gazette and blacklist was raised against him.Lau reconnected with his mother on Facebook nine years later, around March 2020. He was now married, with a child, and operating an automobile repair shop in Hong Kong.
Lau made an internet search and realised he could be liable to a jail term and a fine upon his return to Singapore. "Overseas defaulters who gamed the system and placed personal pursuits ahead of their NS obligations were likely to have planned to return eventually, after they have fulfilled their personal goals, such as after the completion of their studies or after a stint working abroad," he said.
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