If you have any interest in professional swimming, you might have heard of Lim Ching Hwang, a former gold medalist and national record holder for 200m individual medley in the Sukma Games (2016). Unfortunately, he will begin his trial on 23rd of February 2021.
The 24-year-old was given Singapore’s permanent residency status in March 2014 under Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. It is reported that Lim left Singapore in July 2014 and failed to attend his enlistment in November 2014. However, he returned in June 2018 and enlisted in April 2019.
According to Lim Ching Hwang, he came back to Singapore to face the consequences ‘like a man’. He mentioned that he was too focused on his swimming career and pursued his studies at a prestigious university. Moreover, he also stated that the decisions he made were also largely influenced by his parents.
Lim promised that he would like to compete for Singapore as well and pursue a stable life there. In the meantime, he is set to be in jail for 8 weeks and people are not happy about it as normal citizens who default national service (NS) would receive up to 3 years imprisonment or fine up to S$10,000.
What do you think? Does he deserve to receive the same amount of punishment?