Think Centre: Take immediate measures to prevent irrevocable damage to Amos Yee mental wellbeing

Archiving: http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.php?id=3162

Statement on the current pre-sentencing treatment of Amos Yee Pang Sang

By Think Centre

Think Centre (TC) calls for the State to urgently review its treatment of Amos Yee before his final sentencing is confirmed. The State should immediately allow him to be transferred from his remand location at block 7 to either a suitably equipped private hospital to continue his assessment or at the minimum, to the private wards available in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), to prevent further deterioration of his mental well-being.

Since his arrest, Yee has faced threats of violence to his person while both in remand and out on bail. To a great extent, this is a manifestation of unrestrained mob behaviour, driven by the siege mentality of those who are eager to participate in punishing Yee. TC strongly condemns this culture of revenge promoted by such actions and thinking, and reaffirms that the justice system is not a tool for individuals, collective or otherwise, to gratify such perverse inclinations.

The physical and verbal attacks Yee has faced and the traumatic consequences should be seriously considered by qualified mental healthcare professionals to determine the kind of treatment that any young persons or individual should receive while awaiting a future court hearing.

As an individual under the care of the IMH, TC understands that Yee’s mental well-being shall be considered as a first priority by the mental healthcare professionals there. The fact that Yee was ordered by the courts to be remanded at the facility to await his next court hearing, and not because of medical grounds should be another serious consideration of his ability to remain there without further risk to his mental well-being.

TC urges the State to respect the call from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 22 June 2015, requesting the State “to consider the best interests of Amos Yee as a child”.

Singapore as a signatory to the United Nations Convention to the Rights of the Child, is committed under Article 40(1) which states, “Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society”

Moreover, no person should be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, especially not for someone awaiting sentencing and who is still a child.

TC urges the State to further recognise that the World Health Organization defines the right to health as “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health”. In addition, within the 1991 UN resolution (A/RES/46/119) on “The protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care”, principle 8 states that, “Every patient shall be protected from harm, including unjustified medication, abuse by other patients, staff or others or other acts causing mental distress or physical discomfort.”

TC urges all parties involved, especially the court-appointed healthcare professionals to heed the highest international standards necessary to maintain the health of an individual, applicable to Yee’s situation, and take immediate measures to prevent irrevocable damage to his mental wellbeing. TC further calls for Amos Yee to be released unconditionally when he next appears in court on the 6th July.

Note: This statement is made without prejudice as to whether or not Amos Yee has ASD, if indeed it is
verified after thorough and fair examination.

No regrets on bailing Amos Yee. I archive this article below for future reference.

http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2015/05/vincent-law-no-regrets-as-bailor-for-amos-yee/

Vincent Law: No regrets as bailor for Amos Yee

BY TERRY XU ON MAY 5, 2015

Amos Yee, a 16 year old teenager who is currently the talk of the country after being charged with harassment, and with deliberately wounding religious feelings for uploading a YouTube video about Singapore’s first prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity.

TOC speaks with Mr Vincent Law, a family counselor and a Christian, who bailed Amos Yee out from police remand on 21 April and subsequently discharged himself as bailor on 30 April, Wednesday to find out what he feels about Amos and the breaking of bail terms by Amos.

Discharged as bailor because Amos declined to terms of bail condition

Contrary to the media reports that Mr Law refused to bail Amos out or the notion that Mr Law has given up on Amos, Mr Law had extended an offer to Amos on Wednesday last week to bail him out again.

However, Amos declined to take up the offer by Mr Law.

According to Mr Law, Amos declined because he refused to abide by the bail conditions as he does not want to be gagged by anyone.

With no way of changing Amos’ mind on the matter, Mr Law had to discharge himself as the bailor.

Just another young boy

As a family counselor, Mr Law feels that lending a listening ear is more effective than chatting with troubled youths.

Mr Law says that everyone seems to forget that Amos Yee is still a 16 year old teenager who is still unable to fit into this rigid society. In his conversations with Amos, Mr Law finds that Amos still lacks empathy, is child-like and still unable to take care of others.

When Mr Law was at the recent play, “Public Enemy” by W!ldRice with Amos and his mother, it struck him that Amos is just a boy who has yet grown up despite his outwardly maturity. Apart from requesting to be seated beside his mother, Amos also has his water stored at his mother’s bag, asking from the mother when he needs the water.

Referencing to Amos’ desire for the opposite sex as said in the video he produced, Mr Law said, apart from having the guts to say it out as compared to teens of the same age, he does not see any difference between Amos and other teenagers.

In the video, “My Lost Love“, Amos shares with viewers, his affection towards a girl in school and what he feels about it. He confess how he has perfect eyesight and wears the glasses which are similar to the ones worn by his crush.

Mr Law also added that the frustration of the constant rejection by Amos’ crush is likely to have gotten to him and may be a factor in the whole episode as he is just a teenager and at crossroads in life.

Producing videos and writing the blog posts is an outlet for a teenager like Amos, a way to release his pent up frustation. “There is nothing wrong with it.” said Mr Law, and said it to be a constructive way to vent the frustration when compared with other troubled teens who do so through violence, drugs or even self-inflicted injuries.

In fact, Mr Law say Amos is the most pleasant youth that he has ever worked with as Amos is very responsive to his questions and courteous towards him.

Mr Law as a family counselor counsels youth at risk sent to him through the police, such youths are normally involved in illegal assemblies, fighting or other offences. Usually, the youths would not respond to Mr Law’s questions and being not cooperative in the counselling process. They would also fail to turn up for arranged meetings as they feel that he is wasting their time.

“Amos is different”, said Mr Law as he would reason on points which he does not agree upon.

An example which Mr Law gave is on the discussion he had in regards to the profanity in Amos’ videos. Amos disagreed that he should omit the vulgarities in the videos. Mr Law feels that Amos just simply has to be himself.

No compromising of principles by Amos

While trying to get Amos to reconsider his actions, Mr Law asked if Amos would be willing to change himself for the sake of his crush. Amos rejected the idea despite his interest for the girl and said that he cannot help it if the girl cannot accept him for who he is.

After graduation, Amos for a period of time thought of teaching tution as to obtain a source of income instead of furthering studies in tertiary institutes.

However, Amos gave up the thought of doing so after producing the video, “Why you should drop out of school” as it would be hypocritical of him to be giving tuitions when he told others why they should consider dropping out of school in his youtube video.

The video on Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity is not the first video that Amos produced on current affairs in his youtube channel. Apart from speaking on the Little India Riot, Amos also covered the issue of 377A on the homosexual community. Mr Law was impressed by Amos’ effort in attending meetings of homosexuals to better understand the community and to do research on the topic before producing the video.

No regrets for acting as bailor 

On the evening when Mr Law bailed Amos out, he told Amos up front that he is a Christian and asked if he had any problems with that.

“No, no, its fine.”, Mr Law recalled Amos saying in response to his declaration. Amos followed up by saying, “Just like, as much as I may not agree with Lee Kuan Yew’s policies but we can still have a dip in the same swimming pool.”

Mr Law said that he did not regret acting as bailor for Amos despite what Amos did to break the conditions of the bail, as he was already mentally prepared that Amos would break them. He thinks that he is grateful to have the opportunity to interact with Amos through the bail, to allow Amos to face a Christian in person to address his generalization view that Christians are ignorant & stupid people.

Mr Law in his words to Amos when he bailed him out, “I may not approve or agree what you say, but I will defend your right to say what you want to say.”

To Mr Law, Amos is just born in the wrong country, as Singapore’s law does not affirm individual’s freedom of expression and demands individual to conform to social norms.

Amos Yee: Local celebs say parents are to blame

When Singapore was angry with Amos Yee, some felt it was an issue about parenting

Then the press had this and then celebs also give parenting tips.Singapore media is rather conservative in presenting celebs. Sometimes our scene like no scandal like that. And when there a scandal arises like everything else just collapse for this person. Well, Jack Neo needs to be 'reborn' after his scandals.

Anyway here are CELEBS giving parenting tips.

From: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/amos-yee-local-celebs-say-parents-are-blame

Local actors Gurmit Singh and Quan Yi Fong both have teenage children, and they say that the responsibility of a child's behaviour falls squarely on the shoulder of the parents. They share their thoughts on the Amos Yee incident.

Q: Being a parent yourself, what are your thoughts on the Amos Yee incident?

Gurmit Singh: "My standing has always been this, nothing to do with Amos. I've always told my wife and my kids that whenever I see a child misbehaving, 90 per cent of the time I would blame the parents.

"Because the parents are supposed to be there to guide the child. Parents are supposed to say "This is wrong."

"There are a lot of parents nowadays, who are yielding to the child's demands, thinking they are being a good parent.

"So don't blame them, they're not aware you see.

"But at the same time I do blame them because you have to take a step back. Is this going to have long-term effects?

"And if so I would suggest just to stop it.

"So even myself I have to self-check sometimes or my wife has to tell me that wasn't such a good decision so let's readdress it again. And let's do something about it."

Quan Yifeng: "A lot of people are criticising him, saying poor parents, and that he should be punished.

"But I feel that we shoukd separate it into two different issues.

"Gurmit has a point as well, everyone will have their own opinions.

"I feel we should separate the issues. If the child is not taught well, it is the parents' fault. But I have seen cases where the problem lies with the child.

"He should really see a doctor. It's not that his parents did not care. He could be a really problematic child, and his parents should have brought him to see a doctor.

"If they did and he had treatment, he might not have committed such a grave mistake.

"So yes, if it is a teenager or younger, the parents have to assume the bulk of the responsibility. But for Amos, I think he has a illness. He should see a doctor. His parents should have brought him to see a doctor a long time ago."

Gurmit Singh: "For me, I think because of the internet and social media, the kids nowadays, their level of awareness is way up there, compared to my time. I wasn't aware of anything that was more than one block away, unless I read the papers.

"But nowadays, they have so much feed and exposure that they know a lot more. And because they know a lot more, they question more. They need to be fed more from my point of view, my perspective, of a certain event or a certain issue so that they do not jump to the wrong conclusions.

"They are exposed to so much more that I have to be careful that I monitor them, and make sure that, if they see something, I am there or my wife is there to guide them as parents.

"In the old days, I don't read papers. TV was allocated one hour. 'Watch Tom and Jerry. Finish? Done? Go to sleep, take your bath, if not I slap your face.' Simple as that.

"Nowadays you try that, they say: 'You know, the telephone number for child abuse is written here. I can Google it.' It's different. But it's a good thing. Because the world has become so small. And its great because the child knows about the earth, that it is round, that there are things like islands and countries at a very early age, and I think that is tremendous.

"We, as in intellect, are prospering so fast and so much in a good way. But if we don't cultivate it, and don't guide it, it can go very wrong."

The government of SINGAPORE: Release Amos Yee - Sign the Petition!

Here are some collected information about the Case of Amos Yee.

First of all, he should not be arrested.

Everybody thinks that the real reason that Yee is arrested is because of his criticism of Lee Kuan Yew and not harming the feelings of Christians.

I believe this is the first petition that surfaced when Yee was first arrested. It was a statement to show that Christians are not offended.

I want to point out that the people played along with this 'deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians in general' and reacted to it at a very early stage in the case.

Petition found at Change.org
Url: https://www.change.org/p/the-government-of-singapore-release-amos-yee

Petitioning To SINGAPORE

Release Amos Yee from your anger

As Singaporeans, we are thankful for the laws of our land and trust in our courts. Our peace and freedoms in Singapore attest to that.

In regard to Amos Yee:
We are not offended by Amos Yee's statements. 
His opinions about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ neither threaten our faith nor diminish our love for Him. 
Please release Amos Yee from your anger. 
We forgive him and desire he have a full life of contribution to his community ahead of him.


A reminder to my Christian brothers and sisters:
Those in our faith have a keen understanding for what it means to be on the wrong side of righteousness, we know we receive God's love through no merit of our own.

As ugly as Amos Yee's words were, we forgive because Jesus loved us despite our own fallen spiritual state.

To be forgiven is an extraordinary gift & we extend this gift to Amos Yee. 

"For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Romans 5:10