The_King Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 SINGAPORE - Harry Birtwistle, the young Singapore-born footballer who on Wednesday (Oct 27) signed professional terms with English Premier League (EPL) club Wolverhampton Wanderers, applied to renounce his citizenship, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Friday (Oct 29). A Mindef spokesman added that this application was denied. In response to queries from The Straits Times, she also said that the player, who moved from Singapore to Britain in 2017 at the age of 13, is living abroad without a valid exit permit and "has committed offences under the Enlistment Act". Under the act, national service (NS) is a mandatory conscription and duty that every male citizen and permanent resident must undertake upon attaining the age of 18. Birtwistle turns 18 in December. "Mr Birtwistle's parents applied to renounce his Singapore citizenship," said the spokesman, adding the application was rejected "as renunciation should not be used as a means to evade NS (National Service) duties". She added that in the family's correspondence with the ministry, "they had stated that Mr Birtwistle will not be registering for NS". "Since then, Mr Birtwistle failed to register for NS as required. He is also staying overseas without a valid exit permit. Mr Birtwistle has committed offences under the Enlistment Act." Birtwistle, whose father John is British and mother Rachel is Chinese Singaporean, was born in Singapore and lived here until he was 13. He moved to England to chase his dream of being an EPL player, signing a scholarship with Wolves shortly after his arrival in 2017. The senior Birtwistle told ST that he had requested deferment from NS for Harry from 2017 with a likelihood of the teenager giving up his Singapore passport when he turned 21. But this was denied. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's website states that a Singapore citizen can only renounce his citizenship if he is aged 21 and above, is of sound mind and has acquired the citizenship of another country. However, it adds that the Government may reject the renunciation by a male citizen if he has enjoyed citizenship privileges and has outstanding NS obligations. Birtwistle senior said the preference for Harry to keep his British passport was because of strict work permit rules in England. "Retaining his United Kingdom passport and British citizenship are essential to pursue a professional football career in the EPL, given the points-based work permit requirements applicable on all non-UK citizens, which were made even more stringent post-Brexit." He explained that he had made the decisions as a father that "only wanted the best" for his son and stressed that "Harry himself has never wanted to renounce his citizenship nor intentionally skip NS". Harry has "deep roots" in Singapore, he said, with his mother and his two young siblings still residing here, as well as extended family and friends. He has long wanted to represent the Singapore national team. John said that both he and Rachel are "100 per cent in agreement and fully aligned" regarding their son's pursuit of an elite football career, despite divorcing in 2008. He added that he and his ex-wife are "most grateful for the support shown from the Singapore public towards Harry in recent days" and hope that the focus will shift towards Birtwistle's football pursuits. "Life is short and bittersweet for us all. Perhaps it's wise to focus on the positives which can hopefully influence others to strive for their goals and live their dream," he said. Harry has featured mainly for Wolves' Under-23 team that plays in the Premier League 2, but has been training with Wolves' first team "about once or twice a week" since the season began in August. Coached by Portuguese Bruno Lage, Wolves are 11th in the 20-team EPL after nine games. Birtwistle's situation mirrors that of Ben Davis, another footballer playing professionally in England. Davis, now 20, was born in Phuket to a Thai mother and an English father and moved to Singapore with his family at age five before becoming a citizen four years later. Having represented Singapore at youth level, he was called up to the senior national team in March 2018 but did not earn a cap. In July that year, he signed professional terms with Fulham, where he had been on a scholarship for a year. Four months after the Lions call-up, he signed professional terms with Fulham, where he had been on a scholarship since July 2017, becoming the first Singaporean to do so with a top-tier English club. The following day, Mindef announced the rejection of his application for long-term deferment from NS. In February 2019, Mindef confirmed that Davis did not report for NS as required and had thus defaulted on his NS commitments. It added that he is also staying overseas without a valid exit permit. As such, he is liable upon conviction to a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to three years, or both. He later switched his international allegiance to Thailand, and in August signed for English third-tier side Oxford United. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 just dont enter SG. Sg is such a small country, there other country to visit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Fugging boliao... Ppl wan 2 leave sg liao still reject 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homelander Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Lol, this place is a stepping stone…what can sg govt do? Go extradite him and force him do ns? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Homelander said: Lol, this place is a stepping stone…what can sg govt do? Go extradite him and force him do ns? Open leg policy is like this. You let everyone sleep with you and hope some of them be your regular customers Edited January 2, 2022 by The_King 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 3 hours ago, The_King said: Open leg policy is like this. You let everyone sleep with you and hope some of them be your regular customers Usually those good FTs will run to amdk countries... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 57 minutes ago, XianGe said: Usually those good FTs will run to amdk countries... At least we still have the lousy, cannot make it one. Begged cannot be chooser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates469bc Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 his laopeh jin kumgong. shld have just passed his citizenship to son at birth and all issues solved. btw, sgp dont recognize dual citizenship so how in the first place did this kgk obtain 2 citizenships????? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbird Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 (edited) On 1/2/2022 at 12:51 AM, The_King said: just dont enter SG. Sg is such a small country, there other country to visit Yes, the rest of the world knows SG is just a small island! Only the Poopies thinks, they are some big dick! Thats why USA didnt bother to invite pinky to USA for Democracy Summit (or something like that few mths ago) On 1/2/2022 at 8:49 PM, socrates469bc said: his laopeh jin kumgong. shld have just passed his citizenship to son at birth and all issues solved. btw, sgp dont recognize dual citizenship so how in the first place did this kgk obtain 2 citizenships????? I think some countries, allows citizenship via ancestry! Assuming Dad is UKDK, so he auto qualify! Even SG is part of commonwealth of nations, but UK pawn SG gazzillion times !!! I will also do the same if my son is in this situation! Only issue is His parents CPF will kanna affected boh? Edited January 3, 2022 by Bigbird 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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