Singapore, Jan. 20 -- Third Sergeant Shane Lim, 20, was born in Singapore, but spent nearly his entire life in Australia.
Despite this, the Singaporean came back in April 2019 as an 18-year-old to enlist for national service because he felt a sense of belonging to the country and was inspired by his father's past experience as an armour officer with the Singapore Army.
Although Australia is his "first home", where he had been living since he was two, he feels a connection to Singapore - having learnt the culture through yearly trips here to visit relatives and friends.
His family had moved to Melbourne as one of his uncles had offered his father a job at a car parts company. His mother, a Malaysian, also works there.
He has been liv...