Did pianist Melvyn Tan get off too lightly?
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Message of the story. If you want to AWOL, do it for all two and a half years and make it big overseas. Then you pay a small fine and be welcomed home with big bucks as a foreign talent.
Those NS boys who are in KDB for AWOL are silly and deserve what they got. After all, scum cannot be compared with the elites. -
yes.. sending out wrong message for the masses.. ppl going in n out of DB bcos of minor offences.. tis bugger 'siam' NS n all he got is a fine??!! bloody faggot.
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Well, well. Melvyn Tan had not even taken the oath of allegiance at all. Hence he was not really AWOL. THere are many ways to look at this issue, however.
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something wrong with our law?
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double standards.
if you are poor and have no special ability you will not be given a chance. -
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It sends out the wrong message, really.
It kind of tells people that you can get away with not serving the nation as long as you migrate overseas, be talented in some field and pay a relatively small fine if you do return.
So what if he's a world-class pianist? Once my lecturer (an associate professor, mind you) actually had to turn up for ICT and ask another prof to take over his lectures in the meantime. You can be a pianist, taxi driver, entrepreneuer, or teacher, but the bottom line is that when it comes to serving the nation, everyone is meant to be equal.
Or, judging from this case, are some people more equal than others? -
no equality!!!
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no justice!!!
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I don't think its anyhing to do with the oath of allegiance. NS obligation is enshrined in the Constitution.Originally posted by iveco:Well, well. Melvyn Tan had not even taken the oath of allegiance at all. Hence he was not really AWOL. THere are many ways to look at this issue, however. -
i think he is liable too.
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If government wants to govern the people with justice and compassion, it should not be swayed by any sentiment for their own kind like being more lenient towards NMPs's children in one case for drug offence and showing more flexibility for NS offence to an pianist in another. Citizens will come to associate such flexibility as favoritism for their own kind.
Why not extend the same flexibility to those who are not connected to the elites as well like people driven to drug trafficking due to extenuating circumstances and commute such death penalty to long sentence as such penalty might have been too harsh in the first place. -
too bad nguyen is not a singaporean and is no musician.Originally posted by robertteh:If government wants to govern the people with justice and compassion, it should not be swayed by any sentiment for their own kind like being more lenient towards NMPs's children in one case for drug offence and showing more flexibility for NS offence to another. Citizens will come to associate such flexibility as favoritism for their own kind.
Why not extend the same flexibility to those who are not connected to the elites as well like people driven to drug trafficking due to extenuating circumstances and commute such death penalty to long sentence as such penalty might have been too harsh in the first place. -
well said (clap clap)Originally posted by robertteh:If government wants to govern the people with justice and compassion, it should not be swayed by any sentiment for their own kind like being more lenient towards NMPs's children in one case for drug offence and showing more flexibility for NS offence to an pianist in another. Citizens will come to associate such flexibility as favoritism for their own kind.
Why not extend the same flexibility to those who are not connected to the elites as well like people driven to drug trafficking due to extenuating circumstances and commute such death penalty to long sentence as such penalty might have been too harsh in the first place. -
read the story "Animals Farm" - Intially one of the commandment is "All animals are equal" but as time goes by it becomes "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others"
I like this book.
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His getting off with a fine is a slap in the face of every single person who ever did national service, and also a double slap to the parents of national servicemen who died in the course of duty. Melvyn Tan is nothing but an unfillial cowardly scumbag who put his parents through a lot of shit and now uses them as an excuse to get back into Singapore. I hope someone breaks every single one of his fingers.
So I guess the lesson to be learnt here is, if you're going to avoid doing NS, better make sure you're rich enough to excape overseas and study/live/work there. Later on if you want to come back just pay the $5000 fine. -
he is a disgrace.. dun he dare go tell ppl he is a singaporean..
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such a travesty.
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He has set a precedent for more to follow.
Personally, more should do it. Sticking around just becomes a poorly-paid nobody. Stepping out can become a highly-paid somebody valued more by the government. -
haiz this is so unfair
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so next time local boys dun take the oath they can siam NS also ?Originally posted by iveco:Well, well. Melvyn Tan had not even taken the oath of allegiance at all. Hence he was not really AWOL. THere are many ways to look at this issue, however. -
The pianist who become a British citizen since 1978, came back to face the music.
Are you complaining about the pianist or the judge? -
he come back to perform earn $$ leh. $5000 is peanutsOriginally posted by SnowFlag:The pianist who become a British citizen since 1978, came back to face the music.
Are you complaining about the pianist or the judge? -
they probably let him go because of the performance.
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Well spoken...Originally posted by dragg:too bad nguyen is not a singaporean and is no musician.