E-sports player granted NS deferment to further education, not to attend gaming event: Mindef

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Wednesday (Aug 7) clarified that a leading gamer was granted a deferment of full-time National Service not to take part in an e-sports international event, as reported by some media outlets, but to enrol in a tertiary course in January next year.

Figo “Azalea” Chua is one of Singapore’s top exponents of the shooting computer game called Overwatch. An event called the Overwatch World Cup 2019 is being held in October in Anaheim, California, run by Blizzard Entertainment, a US video game developer.

Competitors from 16 countries will take part in the event, which started in 2016.

In a response to media queries, Mindef said on Wednesday: "The basis for Mr Figo 'Azalea' Chua's deferment from full-time National Service (NS) was not for participation in the Overwatch World Cup, as reported. He was granted deferment to enrol for a National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (Nitec) course in January 2020. "

It added: "Under current policy, deferment from full-time NS is generally granted to enlistees to pursue educational qualifications up to 'A' Levels, polytechnic diploma or their equivalent, including the Nitec."

Media outlets such as The Straits Times and Yahoo News Singapore reported earlier this week that Mr Chua, 18, had been granted a deferment from NS to participate in the tournament, based on an initial Facebook post made by fellow Overwatch teammate Nicholas Tay.

Mr Tay, who manages the social media accounts of the Singapore team, announced Mr Chua’s successful deferment in a Facebook post on Sunday, without clearly stating that it had been granted on the grounds of furthering his studies.

He has since updated the post, although he still maintains his participation in the e-sports event “was likely a factor in Central Manpower Base’s (CMPB) decision to be lenient”.

Mr Tay also answered questions on popular forum Reddit, saying: “Last Friday (Aug 2) he was informed that his last-minute deferment was successful, on education grounds.

“So to be 100 per cent clear: Azalea was not granted a special deferment purely for e-sports. He used his education deferment, and we believe that CMPB)/Mindef granted him leniency to use it with so little lead time taking into account the Overwatch World Cup.”

He went on to apologise for the confusion caused by his initial post.

Mr Tay then stated in a Facebook post on Tuesday: “He (Mr Chua) sought and was granted deferment from National Service by using his education deferment, in order to complete his tertiary education. We helped him out by providing him with official endorsement letters from our Competition Committee and Blizzard as supporting documentation.

“With less than three weeks remaining to his enlistment, such requests would normally be rejected, but I believe they took the Overwatch World Cup into consideration to grant him the deferment.”