Left Singapore during Covid, lost PR and returned to a S$9,000 national service fine

SINGAPORE, June 25 — A Chinese national who left Singapore during the Covid-19 pandemic and later lost his permanent resident (PR) status has been fined S$9,000 (RM28,500) for defaulting on his national service (NS) obligations, according to CNA.

You Jiahao, 23, pleaded guilty today to two charges under the Enlistment Act, with two other charges taken into consideration.

Although his PR status was revoked in August 2022 after he failed to renew his re-entry permit, the court found he remained liable for offences committed before then.

You became a Singapore PR in 2014 and studied at Outram Secondary School. He left Singapore in August 2020, but failed to register for NS after receiving a registration notice the following year.

In 2022, he contacted the Central Manpower Base (CMPB), acknowledging his obligation to serve NS but asking to defer it until after completing his university studies in China.

CMPB told him he had already committed offences by failing to register for NS and remaining overseas without a valid exit permit, and instructed him to return to Singapore.

Instead, his PR status was revoked on August 1, 2022, ending his liability to serve NS. However, he was still prosecuted for the earlier breaches.

He returned to Singapore only on March 27, 2025, when he was arrested at Changi Airport after spending one year, 11 months and six days overseas without a valid exit permit.

The prosecution sought a S$9,000 fine, noting that his period of default fell just short of the two-year threshold that could warrant a jail term. It argued the only reason it did not exceed two years was because his PR status had been revoked.

Representing himself, You told the court through an interpreter that he never intended to evade NS and had returned to China during the pandemic, believing he could serve after completing his university studies.

He apologised, saying he now understood his mistake and had returned to Singapore to resolve the matter.

He paid the fine in full. Under the Enlistment Act, offenders can face up to three years’ jail, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.