Jovan & National Service - ISN'T IT TOO EARLY??!!

I was checking the expiry dates on Jovan and Angel's passports the other night. Their passports will expire in 2011, so if we are going back to S'pore next year, we have to renew them. And then it dawned on me that Jovan will be 10 next year and I thought I should check on his military service status with MINDef (Ministry of Defence).

It turns out that for all male S'pore citizen between 11 to 17 yrs old, they need to apply for exit permit from MINDef to go overseas and if they're staying overseas to study, a security bond of S$75,000 must be provided to ICA (Immigration and Custom Authority) to ensure that they will be back to serve their military service after their study or by the age of 18. So if we renew Jovan's passport next year, he'll only be granted a passport which will be valid only up till when he reaches 11yrs old! After that, we have to apply for an exit permit and submit the security bond!!!

ISN'T IT TOO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT SERVING THE COUNTRY AT 11 YRS OLD??!!

Now we have a situation! Jovan definitely needs to go back to serve his obligation, unless we give up the citizenship by taking on Sweden's citizenship. An option which I resist. He will probably need to take up military service here in Sweden because he has been staying here for more than 5 years. (The chance of this happening is very low though, since they have more than enough people to go to the army and most boys here have never serve the military obligations) So for now, we just need to focus to make sure he gets permission to stay here to study and go back only when he's needed.

Lars and I had a talk about this. We both agree that it is a good life experience to be in the army, it'll enrich him. However, Lars has this thinking that being in the army in S'pore is not as real as it is in Sweden. Well, I agree that the conditions here are harsher because they really go all the way to remote places, which means that they can't come home for a long period of time, endure extreme cold, hunger, etc. but I think it's all about being in a different living environment than the comfort of home, so it doesn't matter if he's doing it here in Sweden or S'pore. And I definitely think that he should (well he have to anyway) do it in S'pore, since he spends most of his life in Sweden, it'll be good to expose him to the different cultures and learn more about the country which he was born.

I have sent an email to the S'pore ambassador to Sweden (who is based in S'pore... ) hoping he can answer or direct me to the relevant people to clarity the situation and to find out what are the options available. Hopefully we'll get a reply soon.