We bet you didn't see this coming.
Amos Yee, the 17-year-old Singaporean who rose to infamy for his YouTube rant against the late Lee Kuan Yew on the week of the founding Prime Minister's death, has found a supporter in the intellectual magazine The New Yorker.
Three charges have been brought against the former child actor under Sections 298 and 292(1)(a) of the Penal Code as well as Section 4(1)(b) of the Protection from Harassment Act. If he is found guilty, he could face three years in prison and up to $5,000 fine. A pre-trial conference will be held on April 17.
In the essay by Nathan Heller, the author praises Yee for having "all the hallmarks of a green and thriving mind" and being just the type of person you'd want to be running your country someday."Americans, who enjoy the benefits of free media, have a responsibility to take him more seriously than they take the government that has tried to quiet him for thinking freely in the public sphere," exhorts Heller. "And those of us in the Fourth Estate have a duty to spread word of his ridiculous charges. If people like Amos Yee end up the custodians of our profession, the future of countries like Singapore can be brighter than their past."
The piece also points out that "citizens of developed nations in the twenty-first century should not need to be told that free expression is a basic attribute of political health".
It argues that the Amos Yee issue just shows Singapore's "dire need for cultural education through intelligent dissent" and that "the suggestion that citizens should withhold political criticism for fear of offense is preposterous — far more embarrassing to Singapore than any videos by Yee could be."
Now, discuss amongst yourselves.
Photo: AFP News / Roslan Rahman
We bet you didn't see this coming.
Amos Yee, the 17-year-old Singaporean who rose to infamy for his YouTube rant against the late Lee Kuan Yew on the week of the founding Prime Minister's death, has found a supporter in the intellectual magazine The New Yorker.
Three charges have been brought against the former child actor under Sections 298 and 292(1)(a) of the Penal Code as well as Section 4(1)(b) of the Protection from Harassment Act. If he is found guilty, he could face three years in prison and up to $5,000 fine. A pre-trial conference will be held on April 17.
In the essay by Nathan Heller, the author praises Yee for having "all the hallmarks of a green and thriving mind" and being just the type of person you'd want to be running your country someday."Americans, who enjoy the benefits of free media, have a responsibility to take him more seriously than they take the government that has tried to quiet him for thinking freely in the public sphere," exhorts Heller. "And those of us in the Fourth Estate have a duty to spread word of his ridiculous charges. If people like Amos Yee end up the custodians of our profession, the future of countries like Singapore can be brighter than their past."
The piece also points out that "citizens of developed nations in the twenty-first century should not need to be told that free expression is a basic attribute of political health".
It argues that the Amos Yee issue just shows Singapore's "dire need for cultural education through intelligent dissent" and that "the suggestion that citizens should withhold political criticism for fear of offense is preposterous — far more embarrassing to Singapore than any videos by Yee could be."
Now, discuss amongst yourselves.
Photo: AFP News / Roslan Rahman