SINGAPORE: A man, who was born in Singapore to an Indonesian father and a Singaporean mother, left the country in 2010 to live with his parents in Batam, where he helped out in his father’s business.
He applied multiple times to defer his National Service (NS) enlistment on account of his studies and remained outside of Singapore without a valid exit permit for more than nine years.
Novriandy Rizaldy, 33, was sentenced on Tuesday (Dec 27) to 24 weeks’ jail for NS evasion.
He pleaded guilty to three counts under the Enlistment Act for failing to report for enlistment and remaining outside Singapore without a valid exit permit for more than nine years.
The court heard that Novriandy was born in Singapore and is a Singapore citizen by birth. His father is Indonesian and was a Singapore permanent resident until he renounced his PR status in January 2010.
His mother is Singaporean and an Indonesian permanent resident.
Novriandy himself was an Indonesian permanent resident from 2015 to December 2019.
Novriandy registered for NS in January 2007, when he was 17 years old. He later requested a deferment from the Central Manpower Base to complete his course at the Institute of Technical Education and was granted one.
In November 2007, Novriandy received his enlistment notice, requiring him to report for NS in March 2008 at the Police Academy.
He applied to defer NS again, as he wanted to take a Higher NITEC course at ITE from April 2008. The Central Manpower Base acknowledged Novriandy’s application and sent him a notice of postponement.
Novriandy’s enlistment was postponed until further notice, pending the submission of documentary proof of his course of study.
But he did not submit the required documents and by then, his parents had moved to Indonesia.
The Central Manpower Base continued to chase Novriandy for the documents. In May 2008, Novriandy reported to the base and submitted a letter of certification from Lasalle College of the Arts instead, stating that he would be pursuing a diploma in Product Design from August 2008 to June 2011.
In January 2010, Novriandy left Singapore for Batam without a valid exit permit. He lived with his parents in Batam and assisted in his father’s business, which dealt with communications and navigations systems.
Lasalle informed the Central Manpower Base in February 2010 that Novriandy had withdrawn from his studies a month earlier.
The base sent a further reporting order to Novriandy’s address requiring him to report for medical screening, and a police gazette was subsequently raised against him when he did not show up.
In April 2015, Novriandy returned to Singapore to renew his passport. He needed a valid passport to obtain permanent residency in Indonesia, and had tried to do so at the Singapore Mission in Batam to no avail.
While in Singapore, Novriandy also reported to the Central Manpower Base and was told that he had left Singapore without a valid exit permit.
He was also reminded to comply with the NS notices sent to him and to remain contactable at all times.
Novriandy went for a medical examination at the Central Manpower Base and later collected his renewed passport from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
HE RETURNED TO BATAM
Despite knowing that he had to serve NS and having received a second enlistment notice, Novriandy returned to Batam in July 2015.
His uncle, who stayed at the address where the NS letters were posted, told Novriandy to report for enlistment.
But in July 2015, Novriandy sent the Central Manpower Base an email saying he wanted to renounce his Singapore citizenship and take up Indonesian citizenship.
He asked for his enlistment date to be deferred and sent another follow-up email requesting to defer his enlistment date.
He was told to contact ICA, as he had already turned 21. He was warned that if he did not do so, he would have to report for enlistment in August 2015.
Novriandy did not contact ICA nor report for enlistment. A police gazette and stop list were raised against him.
Novriandy returned to Singapore only four years later, in December 2019. He came back to renew his passport, as he faced deportation from Indonesia without a valid Singapore passport.
He also wanted to resolve his NS matters to obtain Indonesian citizenship, and was arrested at the immigration checkpoint.
He went for a further medical screening in December 2019 at the Central Manpower Base and given a physical evaluation standard of “BP”. He subsequently enlisted to the Singapore Civil Defence Force in November 2020 and completed his full-time NS in November 2022.
In total, Novriandy remained outside Singapore without a valid exit permit for nine years, seven months and 24 days.
