Melvyn Tan is a Free Man now " What is there to defend ?"
Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me now to touch on the specifics of the case of Melvyn Tan. Much has been said about his case and many Singaporeans have expressed strong views. I discern two key concerns in the public debate.
The first was that the punishment meted out to NS defaulters was insufficient and not proportionate with the seriousness of the offence. There were many indignant voices who argued that a $3,000 fine was too light considering that other Singaporeans had to diligently serve 2 or 2½ years of full-time National Service and many more years of in-camp training. Such feelings are understandable and I will address this concern later in my statement.
The second concern expressed was whether Melvyn Tan had been given special treatment; whether different rules for National Service applied to different people. I would like to assure the House that this was not the case. Melvyn Tan was treated no differently from other NS defaulters in similar situations.
Melvyn Tan left Singapore at age 12 in 1969 to study music at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. In 1974, when he was 17, he won a Foundation Scholarship, jointly funded by the Straits Times Press, Nanyang Siang Pau and the Lee Foundation, to further his music studies at the Royal College of Music. As the course would take him beyond the enlistment age of 18, he applied for and was granted deferment from National Service for three years, after his parents furnished a bond of $30,000.
However, Melvyn Tan failed to return after his deferment period ended. Instead, he requested further deferment to pursue a Masters degree in music. The request was rejected, as we did not allow further deferment for postgraduate studies. When Melvyn Tan failed to enlist for full-time National Service after his deferment period was over and his exit permit had expired, the bond his parents furnished was forfeited and he was gazetted as an NS defaulter.
Melvyn Tan subsequently took up British citizenship in 1978 and applied to renounce his Singapore citizenship. He was allowed to renounce his citizenship based on the prevailing policy at that time. That policy was subsequently tightened, and someone in a similar situation today would not be allowed to renounce his citizenship and would remain liable for National Service.
Over the years, Melvyn Tan made a number of appeals, including one to the Prime Minister in 1995, to be allowed to return to Singapore without being charged for his National Service offences. MINDEF rejected all of his appeals. MINDEF’s position was that while he was free to return to Singapore, he would have to answer for his National Service offence in Court, like all other NS defaulters.
In April last year, Melvyn Tan decided to return to Singapore to face the Court. He stated that he wanted to return in order to be with his ageing parents. He pleaded guilty in Court and was sentenced to a fine of $3,000. His sentence was similar to that imposed on other NS defaulters under similar circumstances. As Melvyn was no longer a Singaporean and was in any case over 40 years old, he was no longer liable for National Service and could not be made to serve his National Service.
However, Melvyn Tan’s case has highlighted an inadequacy in penalties for those who have defaulted for so many years that they are no longer able to discharge their National Service obligations in full. Since the appeal case in the High Court in 1993, besides Melvyn Tan, there have been 13 other cases of convicted defaulters who were sentenced only to a fine and who were not subsequently enlisted because they were already over 40 or almost 40. This is something that we need to look into more closely, especially as there may now be more defaulters who are 40 or older coming before the courts with the passing of time.