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strong>Nov. 13, Online

Two Indonesian citizens who hold permanent resident status in Singapore were deported to the neighboring country after their status was discovered during joint-military training between the two countries in Magelang, Central Java.

The military officials, identified only by the initials CJH and AJ, were removed from the training program after the discovery that the 2006 Citizenship Law bans Indonesian citizens from enlisting in foreign military forces or joining a country that is moving toward or already at war with Indonesia.

Your comments:  

This incident occurred because the two people were assigned to a bilateral training program in Magelang.

They should have known better and refused the assignment by citing this piece of Indonesian law. You can serve anywhere (you can even serve McDonald'€™s burgers) and the state won'€™t care as long as it'€™s not '€œfound out'€. I bet these two guys aren'€™t the only ones serving in the Singapore army. No problem, as long as the state doesn'€™t find out.

Konslete

One can'€™t simply '€œrefuse'€ an assignment in the army if it is given by superior officers, but they should have raised their concerns. Usually they would be exempted from such a situation, but being sent back to their home country seems like an anomaly. To be found out as a citizen requires a deliberate effort.  Soldiers don'€™t normally travel by passports. I bet in this case '€œTNI'€ actually had the embassy in Singapore do a check and these two soldiers happened to have contacted the embassy in the past.

Ponders

I can understand why an Indonesian national (or Malaysian or Chinese national, for that matter) would want to join the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

A lance corporal in the SAF is officially paid the same salary or higher than a Brig. Gen. in Indonesia. In other words, in Singapore you get a legal and lawful salary of a general in Indonesia!

Pauloh