This story was first published on September 16, 2021, and updated on January 3, 2022.

Singapore’s national swimmer, Joseph Schooling has enlisted for national service (NS) as of January 3 after having his obligations deferred since 2014 while he represented the nation in various sporting competitions including the Olympics. 

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Schooling marked this milestone by sharing videos of him getting his hair shaved at a salon on his Instagram page on January 2.  

In September 2021, Mindef announced that Schooling and fellow national swimmer, Quah Zheng Wen's long-term NS deferments had ended after they participated in the Tokyo Olympics.

“As their deferment until August 31, 2021, has ended, both Mr Schooling and Mr Quah will proceed to fulfil their NS obligations, as agreed to when they applied for deferment. They will be enlisted once the necessary pre-enlistment procedures have been completed,” said the ministry in a statement that was issued to the media on September 16.

They continued by saying, “As previously explained in Parliament, such deferment from full-time NS is granted very selectively for exceptional sportsmen assessed to be potential medal winners at international competitions like the Olympic Games and who are able to bring national pride to Singapore.”

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Their deferments were meant to expire after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games but were extended when the highly-anticipated Games were postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  

During his deferment, Schooling did Singapore proud by winning Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 and setting a new Olympic record. 

Schooling, unfortunately, did not qualify for the semi-finals of his events at the Tokyo Olympics this year despite his best efforts. 

Schooling has said in past interviews that being called up to enlist would be “tough for sure” as he felt he had “so much more left in the tank” as an athlete.

Of course, considering that NS is a rite of passage for every local man, the granting of deferment is highly selective. Below, find out who are the other Singaporean athletes that received this concession. Spoiler alert: There have only been three sportsmen, including Schooling, who have been given this privilege in Singapore history.

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