Amos Yee’s assailant arrested

I wrote about this trivial incident yesterday, just to quote the intro paragraph of the article, ‘The boy, Amos Yee, was hit by a man outside the court when he turned up to hear the charges against him for insulting religion and God. After hitting the boy the man ran off but not before shouting ‘Sue me, sue me’ in front of journalists waiting outside the court for the boy’s appearance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ17hfhI0C0....’

Our super efficient men in blue did not fail and the man was arrested at 2 am on the same night. The news broke the next day saying that a 49 year old man was arrested. Oh, 49 year old! Heck, my old man’s vision must be playing tricks on me, or was it the above video? That man seemed too young, at most in his mid 30s. His movement, mannerism, his running and gesturing, all seemed too young to be 49.

It is unbecoming for a 49 year old man to behave that way, more like a juvenile. If he is not caught and identified, I would go on thinking that it was a young man hitting Amos Yee.

The big question, what’s next? How would this man be dealt with? In this case, though trivial, it has an international standing and an international audience. It is a very high profile case, and God is watching over us. At the mortal level, this is a case of reckless defiance of the law, the police, and the govt. It was conducted just outside the courts of justice, presumably there would be police around, and in front of many journalists and reporters with cameras ready, and he did it, without a care that he would be caught in camera. He was so confident that he could get away with it, thinking, acting and behaving like a kid. After hitting the boy he turned around to taunt the boy, facing the cameras, without trying to hide his face, no sign of fear of the law, that he could be easily identified. It was very unusual for a 49 year old to behave so naïvely confident of himself. You would expect a 49 year old to know what he was in for and be more careful to commit a premeditated act of violence. He was not provoked and act in the heat of a moment. He was there waiting for Amos Yee..

Would the courts, the police and the govt take this case in a different manner? Would this be treated as more than a simple scuffle between two private individuals and Amos Yee be asked to file a personal suit against his assailant and claim for damages? The fact that he has been arrested means that the govt or the police are taking this very seriously. Would this case be used to make a statement, a deterrent, against all future and potential violators of peace and order, not to think that this is a lawless country, ‘bo cheng hu’, and they can go around hitting and assaulting anyone they liked, right in front of the courts?

With the noise about this case spreading unrestrained, many cheering, some jeering, that the hitting of the boy is a right and good thing, and with many leaders keeping their lips sealed, other than Shanmugam, the impression is not very well received.  Shanmugam, as the Minister of Home Affairs, had to say something or people will get the wrong message, like the fake degree case.

Now, would more righteous people, and ministers, speak out against this assault in broad daylight, against a child by a 49 year old man? A trivial case, nothing much about it, not vile, not outrageously?  Not alarming? Anyone wants to be kind to this kid, or to be kinder to the kid/man for hitting the kid?

What would be the message to be sent out by the govt and the police?