Singapore Armed Forces (Volunteers) Regulations

Singapore Armed Forces Act

(Chapter 295, Section 205)

Rg 7

G.N. No. S 544/1991

REVISED EDITION 2001

(31st January 2001)

[6th December 1991]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Singapore Armed Forces (Volunteers) Regulations.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“full-time national service” has the same meaning as “full-time service” in the Enlistment Act (Cap. 93);

“national service” has the same meaning as in the Enlistment Act;

“operationally ready national service” has the same meaning as in the Enlistment Act (Cap. 93);

“permanent resident” has the same meaning as in the Enlistment Act;

“regular service” has the same meaning as in the Enlistment Act.

Appointment of officers

3.—(1) Appointments of volunteers as officers shall be made either by the President of Singapore or by the proper authority who or which may, without assigning any reason, cancel any such appointment.

(2) An appointment made under paragraph (1) shall be in the form approved by the proper authority.

(3) Officers appointed under paragraph (1) shall be deemed to be officers of the Singapore Armed Forces from the date specified in their appointments.

(4) Officers may from time to time be promoted or advanced in rank by the proper authority.

Eligibility for enlistment as volunteer

4.—(1) Every citizen or permanent resident of Singapore who is not less than 16 years and 6 months of age shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations, be eligible for enlistment as a volunteer.

(2) No national serviceman, regular serviceman or operationally ready national serviceman shall be enlisted as a volunteer, except that an operationally ready national serviceman may be enlisted as a volunteer with the permission of the proper authority.

(3) Where any person applying for enlistment as a volunteer is below the age of 18 years —

(a)	consent to the application shall be given in writing by the parent or guardian of that person; and
(b)	that person shall not be permitted to take a direct part in hostilities until he has attained the age of 18 years. [S 346/2008 wef 07/07/2008]

(4) For the purpose of this regulation, the age of a person applying for enlistment as a volunteer shall be determined in accordance with section 31 of the Enlistment Act (Cap. 93).

[S 346/2008 wef 07/07/2008]

Disruption

5.—(1) Any volunteer who is enlisted into full-time national service or regular service shall have his service as a volunteer disrupted until such time as he has completed his full-time national service or regular service and is reinstated as a volunteer.

(2) No volunteer who is liable to render operationally ready national service shall be reinstated without the permission of the proper authority.

(3) For purposes of volunteer service under these Regulations, the period of disruption shall not be considered as service.

Medical examination

6.—(1) Every person applying for enlistment as a volunteer and every volunteer shall, if so required by the proper authority, present himself before a medical officer approved in that behalf by the proper authority for such medical examination as may be necessary to determine if he is fit to serve in the Singapore Armed Forces.

(2) For the purposes of such medical examination, the person or volunteer shall comply with the directions of such medical officer.

Oath or declaration

7. Every volunteer on being appointed as an officer and every volunteer on enlistment, or as soon as may be thereafter, shall take an oath or make a declaration in the form approved by the proper authority.

Mobilised service

8.—(1) The proper authority may, by written notice, require any volunteer to render mobilised service which shall consist of full-time service in the Singapore Armed Forces.

(2) Every volunteer shall report for mobilised service when so required and shall continue to render mobilised service until discharged or released by the proper authority.

Volunteer service liability

9.—(1) Subject to regulation 10, volunteers shall be liable to serve for one but not both of the following sets of periods:

(a)	for a period of 14 days and 8 hours per week during the first 6 months of service, and for a period of 7 days annually and 3 hours per week or 6 hours per fortnight or 12 hours per month after the first 6 months of service; or
(b)	for periods not exceeding in the aggregate 40 days annually.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall preclude any volunteer from serving for a period or periods longer than the period or periods specified in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) if authorised by the proper authority.

Discharge of national service liability

10.—(1) Any person who is liable to render full-time national service and who has not been enlisted for such service may, upon application by him to serve as a full-time volunteer, be enlisted by the proper authority to render full-time volunteer service on such terms and for such period as it may determine in the Singapore Armed Forces until he is enlisted for full-time national service under the Enlistment Act (Cap. 93).

(2) Where the period of full-time volunteer service under paragraph (1) has been served by a volunteer, the period of such service shall be taken into account in the computation of the full-time national service liability of the volunteer under the Enlistment Act.

Computation of volunteer service

11. In computing the periods of volunteer service under regulation 9, the following provisions shall apply:

(a)	where a period of continuous volunteer service falls within 2 years, the whole period shall be deemed to fall within the first year;
(b)	a period of volunteer service not exceeding 4 hours shall be deemed to be half a day of service;
(c)	a period of volunteer service between 4 and 24 hours shall be deemed to be one day of service, except that where a period of volunteer service between 18 and 24 hours falls within 2 calendar days, it shall be deemed to be 2 days of service; and
(d)	where a volunteer serves for a period exceeding 24 hours, every calendar day on which he serves, including the first and the last day, shall be deemed to be one day of service though the latter periods might be of less than 24 hours duration.

Unaccountable periods

12. In computing the period of full-time volunteer service under regulation 10, no account shall be taken of —

(a)	any period before the day on which he reported for full-time volunteer service;
(b)	any period of absence from full-time volunteer service without leave or desertion where that person was convicted therefor;
(c)	any period, during which he was serving or would have been serving, if he was not unlawfully at large, a term of imprisonment, special detention, detention or reformative training; or
(d)	any period during which he was under close arrest or civil custody on a charge for an offence of which he was afterwards convicted by a subordinate military court or a civil court or by a disciplinary officer.

Place of service

13. Volunteers performing service may be required to render service in or outside Singapore.

Release from volunteer service

14. Any volunteer may, on giving 3 months’ notice in writing of his desire to be released from volunteer service, be so released by the proper authority.

Discharge of volunteers

15. The proper authority may, with or without assigning any reason, discharge any volunteer.

Orders, notices, permits and appointments

16.—(1) Orders, notices, permits and appointments issued or made under these Regulations may be of a general nature or may refer to a class of volunteers or to one volunteer or to any number of volunteers.

(2) Any order or notice issued under these Regulations may be served on any volunteer —

Personal delivery and telephone conversation

(a)	by delivering it personally, or reading the contents of the order or notice over the telephone personally, to that volunteer;

Publication in newspapers and Gazette

(b)	by publishing it in the daily newspapers circulating in Singapore in all the official languages or in the Gazette;

Broadcast over radio and television

(c)	by broadcasting it over the radio and television in the prescribed manner;

Public-address system or siren

(d)	by audible signals given in the prescribed manner over a public-address system or through a siren where such signals are audible from the usual or last known place of residence, business and employment of the volunteer to be served;

Registered post

(e)	by sending it by registered post to the volunteer to be served at the usual or last known place of residence or business of that volunteer;

Delivery to member of family or household at residence

(f)	by leaving it at the usual or last known place of residence of the volunteer to be served with a member of his family or household who is apparently above the age of 16 years and apparently residing at that place;

Telephone conversation with member of family or household

(g)	by reading the contents of the order or notice over the telephone to a member of the family or household of the volunteer to be served who is apparently above the age of 16 years and apparently residing at the usual or last known place of residence of the volunteer to be served;

Delivery to employee or person in charge of working place

(h)	by leaving it at the usual or last known place of business or employment of the volunteer to be served with a person apparently above the age of 16 years and apparently in charge of or employed at that place;

Telephone conversation with employee or person in charge of working place

(i)	by reading the contents of the order or notice over the telephone to a person apparently above the age of 16 years and apparently in charge of or is employed at the usual or last known place of business or employment of the person to be served;

Pager

(j)	by sending it by radio communications pager transmission in the prescribed manner; or

Facsimile transmission, telex and other means of telecommunication

(k)

by sending it by facsimile transmission, telex or any other prescribed means of telecommunication to the volunteer to be served at the usual or last known place of residence, business or employment of that volunteer where there is an acknowledgment by electronic or any other means to the effect that the order or notice has been received at that place.

(3) Where any order or notice is served on any volunteer pursuant to —

(a)

paragraph (2)(b), it shall be deemed to have been read by the volunteer to whom it applies by noon on the day following the date of publication;

(b)

paragraph (2)(c) or (d), it shall be deemed to have been seen or heard by the volunteer to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the commencement of the first broadcast or audible signal, as the case may be;

(c)

paragraph (2)(e), it shall be deemed to have been received and read by the volunteer to whom it applies on the expiry of 48 hours from the time at which it was delivered to the post office for despatch;

(d)

paragraph (2)(f) or (g), it shall be deemed to have been conveyed or read to the volunteer to whom it applies at the time of delivery or telephone conversation, as the case may be;

(e)

paragraph (2)(h) or (i), it shall be —

(i)	presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have been conveyed or read to the volunteer to whom it applies at the time of delivery or telephone conversation, as the case may be; and
(ii)	deemed to have been conveyed or read to the volunteer to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the time of delivery or telephone conversation, as the case may be; or

(f)

paragraph (2)(j) or (k), it shall be —

(i)	presumed until the contrary is proved, to have been received and read or heard by the volunteer to whom it applies at the time of the first transmission; and
(ii)	deemed to have been received and read or heard by the volunteer to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the time of the first transmission.

(4) Any order or notice issued under these Regulations shall remain in force until it is complied with or revoked and a volunteer not complying with such order or notice at the specified time shall be liable to comply with it as soon as possible.

(5) Any order, notice, permit or appointment issued or made under these Regulations may be subject to conditions and may be revoked at any time.

(6) Where a volunteer has under paragraph (3) been deemed to have knowledge of any order or notice issued under these Regulations, ignorance of the fact that the order or notice has been duly served on him in accordance with paragraph (2) shall not be an excuse for failing to comply with that order or notice.

[G.N. Nos.S 544/91; S 181/95; S 346/2008]

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