Schooling's national service deferment hot topic in Singapore after winning Olympic gold medal

Debate has been focusing on whether Singapore's first ever Olympic champion can again defer his National Service (NS) to allow him to better prepare for the next Olympics, since 21-year-old Joseph Schooling cheered the nation with a gold medal in men's 100m butterfly finals on Saturday.

On Sunday, Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen gave a little hint, as saying that the young athlete can still defer NS if he meets certain criteria.

"When we deferred him in 2013 so that he could compete for the Olympics -- it was based on known conditions that I already explained to Parliament. And if he continues to meet those conditions, I don't see why not," he said.

An NS deferment may be granted "in exceptional circumstances to individual sportsmen, who are assessed to be potential medal winners at international competitions like the Olympic Games and bring national pride for the country," the Straits Times quoted Dr. Ng when he made such remarks in parliament three years ago.

In that case, individuals will have to show why deferment is necessary for them to train full-time and compete successfully at international competitions, and each case will be assessed individually in consultation with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Straits Times added.

As the Olympic champion will be arriving his home country on Monday morning, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said in a facebook post that the parliament plans to move a motion to congratulate him on his gold, and to express support for Team Singapore in Rio.

"The motion will be a formal recognition of his achievements by Parliament. I hoped he would be there with his family and he said he would," Lee wrote.

In response, Dr Ng added that discussions over whether Schooling could be granted another NS deferment "can wait till then." Endit