6/15/2015

Amos Yee – The world’s youngest Prisoner of Conscience

Below is what Kenneth Jeyaratnam posted.

Amos Yee: World’s Youngest Prisoner of Conscience to be recognised by Amnesty International

At the beginning of this month I started exchanging correspondence with some contacts in Amnesty International sharing my view that Amos was  a prisoner of conscience.  I am delighted to say that after monitoring and considering the situation they have just written to me to say that they concur. Amnesty International will recognise Amos Yee as a Prisoner of Conscience.  Amos Yee does fulfill their criteria because his actions, though offensive, should not have been criminalised.

And this is the reply from Amnesty International.

Dear Kenneth,

Well, the IS has considered it and judge that he is indeed a POC by Amnesty’s definition. What he said falls under the kind of edgy and sharp expression of opinions that may annoy or insult, but it was peacefully said and doesn’t fall under the definition of incitement etc and is not grounds for criminalization. WE will speak out and expect to issue a statement ahead of the 23 June court hearing.

XXXX Redacted XXXXXXXXX

Warmest wishes, xxxx

I feel very sorry and sad to know that Amos Yee is having suicidal tendency and they are handling him like a mental patient, tying him to his bed. His mother is trying all she could to save her child and is in desperation, alone fighting the whole world. I salute Kenneth for speaking out for Amos Yee.

Where are the decent men and women in this island? The silence is pathetic and a shame. If they don’t speak up for Amos Yee, they must remain silent for the rest of their lives. No one will give them any respect for anything they say henceforth.

Is there a conscience in this piece of rock? Or has everyone been turned into a piece of rock devoid of compassion, moral righteousness, kindness, empathy, decency, justice, heartless….?

24 comments:

Virgo 49 said...

Where us Richard Wan????

Movement of Kindness!!

Lost his bloody balls or waiting to be invited for tea???

Later kena limp kopi by the masses then he knows.

Anonymous said...

Is there a God? Obviously no. Wickedness and evil shall triumph.

jjgg said...

Hopefully he will be stronger for his experience...you really cannot expecting anything less from a government with as pathetic human rights record than ours...yes!!!! We voted the MFs in....just remember what happened to all the ' commies n Marxists ' they detained.

Anonymous said...


Living in this cruel world is like that!

Anonymous said...

Where are the men of Conscience?

Anonymous said...

Further proof that children didn't have to go to mt KK to be crushed by boulders as big as cars.
Of I were the lawyer, would be asking if there is cctv in the remand center.

patriot said...

The United Nations and World Court have no interest in Amos Yee versus
the State Case?

What are they(UN/World Court) for?
Scarecrows?

patriot

Anonymous said...

The "decent men and women" in Singapore of whom redbean spoke about, they are busy earning decent salaries to pay mortgages for their indecently priced expensive bungalows and saving up for their precious kids who are no doubt learning, too, how to live a decent life in Singapore. These decent people, hear no evil, see no evil , speak no evil, no trouble. Life is just bread and butter and working smart, don't rock the boat, nothing else matters.

Amos might kill himself soon, who cares?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ RB:

>> Amos Yee is having suicidal tendency <<

RB, it is of prime importance that this is verified as FACT. I'M CALLING BULLSHIT here.

They are probably restraining him on some trumped-up diagnosis. Has there been a 2nd or 3rd opinion---independent professional medical opinion on this? Who did the clinical diagnosis? Based o what "evidence"?

Human emotional states are in flux. Just because someone exhibits certain symptoms doean't necessarily mean ANYTHING. If I exhibit "anger" or "rage" when I see someone slap my mother, does that mean I have "anger issues" and therefore require "treatment"? If you have pain in your chest doesn't that automatically mean "heart attack"?

I would say that any "opinion"---professional or lay person---about Amos Yee would probably be BIASED depending on which way the person whose opinion it is feels about the case. Objectivity, by now is IMPOSSIBLE, which is why you need testing, measurement and many independent evaluations as possible.

Otherwise they are going to pump this young fella full of very bad drugs, which could affect his sparkling if not "dangerous" intellect.

>> Where are the decent men and women in this island? <<

Aiyah, please lah. They are there, all around.


>> The silence is pathetic and a shame. <<

I completely disagree. No one is duty bound to speak up, nor should they be "guilt tripped" into doing so.

Freedom of speech and expression in Singapore will be a long, long fight. The govt is not "the enemy". The "enemy" is THE CULTURE. In this culture, there is RIGHT not to be offended, slandered or libeled.

Whilst it is alright to support Amos by contributing to his legal fund, or support him in spirit in the public space, and give props to people like Kenneth J...IMO, I want to see this young lad prevail on his own: SOLO.

He has mocked the authority, he has mocked religion and he definitely made the court look like a bunch of spoilt kids after someone broke their favourite toy. As a SOLO, Amos has done very well, and garnered lots of support, plus piss off even more his detractors---the people who keep "upping the ante" by throwing more and more shit at him, and yet young Amos remains DEFIANT.

I put it to the young of Singapore---Amos's peers. Take up the torch. You will be living in the cuntry the oblong dick-sucking adults are making today, and they are not doing everything correctly.

If you plan to grow up and live in a society where you can be FEARLESS of sharing your opinion---even if some may be "offended" by it---then you need to ACT NOW. You have computers, you have skills, so use them, like Amos.

Me? I'm an uncle---still very fucking "gila" like a teenager (all my ex-wives will confirm this), but aging unavoidably. Very soon I'll be 60+ years old. When we were young, some of us were "rebellious". Unfortunately now people I grew up with who were idealistic about "freedom" have become fat, lazy, intellectually dull, jaded and apathetic. Yesteryear's children of Woodstock---the freedom-loving Baby Boomers, are now the assholes who run The Establishment and own most of the shit. Generations X and Y are also on the same BORING path. They've sold out their IDEALS for a false sense of "security" and fake "achievement" based on how many expensive trinkets they own.

Lee Kuan Yew is Dead. Singapore needs "young spirit" to get out of this Benign Dictatorship funk. If not, then the Benign Dictatorship will rule over you, and very probably your children too.

Young people, you need to "mess it up" a bit. Stir the pot. Shake the tree. Throw shit at the wall....something, sooner or later...will STICK!

Best wishes

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

What funny facts are you demanding or expecting when you yourself have given all the funny facts to tell whichever side you choose to side with?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ RB:

Ah...the conundrum of searching for the truth. It is a fact of life in any type of inquiry---can we surpass our own biases?

The answer lies in having as many independent people confirm or dis-confirm whatever is asserted. Test, re-test and test again. Poke it, prod it break it open...that's what proper inquiry is all about.

I never said it was going to be easy ;-)

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

I thought sometimes you show some promise of intelligence. 'as many people confirm or disconfirm' will lead to the truth? Your favourite angst, there are two billion people out there believing in their God, but you don't believe. So you are wrong.

There are so many people saying Amos bad. The judicial system also said so. So Amos is bad.

Your hypothesis is supreme.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

P.S. I'm not calling bullshit on Amos being restrained and possibly sedated.

I'm calling BULLSHIT on using the "excuse" of "suicidal thoughts" to put him in excessive restraint---to the point where he can't even piss or shit properly.

Everyone has suicidal thoughts lah. But to normal people, they are fleeting and don't mean anything---they are just thoughts emerging from heightened negative mental states and probably physical suffering or received loss of autonomous control (like imprisonment or confinement)....existential terror.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ RB:

>> Your favourite angst, there are two billion people out there believing in their God, but you don't believe. So you are wrong. <<

Yes, I accept the possibility that I could be wrong. I have no issue with that. However the contention that just because 2 billion people believe and I don't believe is not a case for "truth", because the hypothesis of existence/ non existence of god is UNTESTABLE and UNFALSIFIABLE.

RB, if you obviously do not comprehend the scientific method. I suggest you equip yourself with some of it at least.

>> There are so many people saying Amos bad. <<

Logical fallacy: rgumentum ad populum ("appeal to the people")


>> The judicial system also said so. <<

Logical Fallacy: Appeal to Authority

>> So Amos is bad. <<

2 false premises. Therefore your conclusion is false.


>> Your hypothesis is supreme. <<

There is no such thing as a "supreme hypothesis". A hypothesis is either testable or untestable; falsifiable or unfalsifiable. That's all.

You need to do some self-education, RB. Learn how to formulate arguments properly lah. Otherwise the cheebye govt will always win.

Virgo 49 said...

Matilah! You want to confirm whether these happenings exist???

Just get yourself admitted to IMH and taste for yourself.

My bipolar friend was admitted once and he swore to me that never he will ever be admitted again.

He was tied to a bed for days in a closeted room and do not know whether day or night.

When he was discharged, he from a half sane man became an insane man.

They told him that he could be recall to go back for same treatment.

This ruse of claiming to be insane is only worth if you are charged for murder One and last resort just to get life instead of the ropes.

This us the last resort liars used to save their clients.

The rape of modern "Nanying" ..... said...

Rb: " Where are the decent men and women in this island? The silence is pathetic and a shame. If they don’t speak up for Amos Yee, they must remain silent for the rest of their lives. No one will give them any respect for anything they say henceforth. "


U think so they will remain silent for the rest of their lives .....?

The silence will be broken faster than u can utter "Fist Whore BarLEEment" .....

No worries .... "Fist Whore BarLEEmentarians" will shout more slogans in the next GE .....

Shouting at the top of their voices ..... like Tigers and Lions ......

Welcome to this "Fist Whore CUNT-ry" ....... In a Sollywood "barLEEment" run by "Oscar" winning "Actors/ actresses ( read dryvers ) " and "co-actors and actresses ( read co-dryvers )", not forgetting their "clownies" in "kaloot" ......

Anonymous said...

Dear Redbean, thank you for continuing to blog on this disgraceful matter. There is more in TRemeritus and it is worth getting wider attention.

According to what I read, the boy is tied to his bed in an open ward. He had to pee into a bottle.

Think about that! He had to expose his penis in an open ward to pee into a bottle. They made an underage minor expose his penis for all to see in an open ward. Don't you think this is a sex crime? We all know there are some people who get aroused by looking at young boys' genitals, right? Do you think the doctor in-charge of the ward is unaware of this?

Oh my God! If this is true, then the people in power governing Singapore are really vicious and demonic. They are less than human.

I trust that the people of Singapore will not find the SEA Games celebration more important for their attention than this terrible, sordid crime committed by the authorities of the State!

Yvo said...

The "decent" men on this island went on holidays.... They couldn't give a hoot about any "prisoners of conscience" as they feel it is not applicable to Singapore

patriot said...

Is there conscience in Sin?

patriot

Anonymous said...

"Is there a conscience in this piece of rock? Or has everyone been turned into a piece of rock devoid of compassion, moral righteousness, kindness, empathy, decency, justice, heartless….?"

Do you think this is exactly the type of Singaporeans that fits LKY's vision of the Singaporean digit?
Do these type of citizens make it very easy for PAP to dominate and bully?
True or not?
What do you think?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ virgo49 1244:

>> Just get yourself admitted to IMH and taste for yourself. <<

That would not be "good" strategy. Apart form the fact that I'll be placing myself in a completely "dis-empowered" position with no fall back plan, data/ "evidence" gathered from personal experience is easily thrown out in court by even the most marginally skilled lawyer.

>> When he was discharged, he from a half sane man became an insane man. <<

This would be a much "better" data point, because you know your friend and how he was before and after. BTW being bipolar doesn't make a person "half insane". Here are some of the "myths" busted

>> He was tied to a bed for days in a closeted room and do not know whether day or night. <<

Did you actually witness this? Is there a record? Usually when they restrain a patient it is because he has demonstrated the potential to self-harm or harm others. If it was true that he was restrained, the aforementioned could be the reasons.

AFAIK, IMH today is not like the "Woodbridge asylum" "Insane hospital" of the past. Before anyone starts to hantam IMH, better get the facts straight lah. Being a modern Singapore hospital, the govt has made sure that it has the reputation for standards and quality research. Don't fuck around lah, whether you like it or not, Singapore has one of THE BEST public health systems in the world.

That doesn't mean that some "evil happenings" might not be occurring there. That's why I say: you gotta get hard evidence, and it has to be tested for veracity, then made PUBLIC before you start hurling accusations and judgements. Otherwise the cheebye govt will just flick you off as "noise", and nothing will change. (aka "they" win, again)

b said...

What is Amos fighting for? Justice? Is there real justice in this world? The earlier he realised that justice, conscience, freedom, equality is just an idea but not a real thing the better for him.

b said...

He can end this all by apologising, withdraw all his postings and stop blogging anything about pap.

Anonymous said...

"He can end this all by apologising, withdraw all his postings and stop blogging anything about pap."
June 15, 2015 8:57 p.m.

That's the entire point isn't it.
The PAP government says Amos is guilty of wrongdoing.
Amos Yee and most Singaporeans say he is not guilty of any wrongdoing.
This is a meritocratic contest of ideas.
If you think PAP's ideology has merit, why so scared of a 16 year old boy and the examination of the entire world?