This provision gives the Act’s title and defines key terms used in it, including who is subject to the Act, what counts as national service, and who the proper authority is.
Enlistment Act 1970 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to provide for the enlistment of persons in the armed forces of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force. [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] [1 August 1970] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Enlistment Act 1970. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “annually” and “year” mean the period from 1 April of each year to 31 March of the following year; “armed forces” means any force constituted under the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972, and such other force constituted under any written law, as the Minister may designate by notification in the Gazette; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “duty” includes training; “employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes the person who owns or is carrying on or is for the time being responsible for the management of a profession, business, trade or work in which other persons are employed; “fitness examination” means any examination which is considered by the proper authority to be necessary for the purpose of determining the fitness of a person for service; “full-time service” means service under section 12; “medical examination” includes any dental examination, blood test, X‑ray examination and any other examination or test that a medical board may consider necessary; “mobilised service” means service under section 18; “national service” means service under Parts 3 and 4 in the armed forces and service in the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force or such other force, body or organisation as the Minister may designate for this purpose by notification in the Gazette; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “national serviceman” means a person in national service; “officer” — (a) in relation to the Singapore Armed Forces, has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972; (b) in relation to the Singapore Police Force, means an officer of the Singapore Police Force of a rank not below Probationary Inspector; and (c) in relation to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, means an officer of the Singapore Civil Defence Force of a rank not below Second Lieutenant; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “operationally ready national service” means service under section 14; “permanent resident” means a permanent resident of Singapore as defined by section 2 of the Immigration Act 1959; [Act 31 of 2023 wef 01/12/2025] “person subject to this Act” means a person who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident thereof and who is not less than 16 years and 6 months of age and not more than 40 years of age or, in the case of a person who — (a) is an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (as the case may be) or a senior military expert; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] (b) is an officer of the armed forces of a rank as may be regarded by the proper authority to be equivalent to that of an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces; or [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] (c) is skilled in an occupation which the Minister by notification in the Gazette designates as an occupation required to meet the needs of the armed forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as the case may be, [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] not more than 50 years of age; “proper authority” means the Armed Forces Council established under section 8 of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972 and any person or body appointed by it by name or by office for the purposes of the whole or any Part of this Act; “registered medical practitioner” has the same meaning as in the Medical Registration Act 1997; “regular service” means service under section 19; “regular serviceman” means a person in regular service; “senior military expert” has the same meaning as in the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972; “service” means national service and regular service; “Singapore Armed Forces” means the Singapore Armed Forces constituted under the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972; [Deleted by Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “Singapore Civil Defence Force” means the Singapore Civil Defence Force constituted under the Civil Defence Act 1986; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “Singapore Police Force” means the Singapore Police Force constituted under the Police Force Act 2004; [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “subordinate military court” has the same meaning as in the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972; [Deleted by Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] “voluntary service in the Singapore Armed Forces” means service as a volunteer as defined in the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972. [13/2003; 28/2009; 10/2015] [Act 10 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024]