What’s there to admire about Amos Yee?
Amos Yee, Singapore’s most infamous teenager, has finally been released from detention after spending 293 days behind bars in the US.
If you are like me and perhaps many others, you can’t help but feel an odd sense of relief for the 18-year-old internet wild child. That does not mean you have any particular fondness of Yee, especially when you know of his misdeeds that would unequivocally qualify him as a tactless douchebag.
In any case, Amos probably deserves to access the Americans’ far more unrestricted freedom of expression. Even his detractors could agree, given that the country itself tolerates hate speeches to be uninhibitedly delivered, whether it is a Koran-burning Christian pastor or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defending the rights of neo-Nazis to march the streets of Charlottesville.
And that is actually the point: if what Amos yearns for is a place where even the most ardent troll is tolerated and could call home, the States would be it. Of course, this relative freedom does not come without its caveats and local opposition; alt-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech was cancelled after protesters gathered at the University of California, the venue of the event. Milo is the same guy whose Twitter account is permanently suspended following an online abuse of actress Leslie Jones.
Supposedly, if Amos chooses to resume his Muslim-offending remarks — as he previously did in Singapore and, apparently, the US — he will possibly be shunned by a more sensitive audience or suffer the kind of opprobrium Yiannopoulos received. At least Amos is entitled to his freedom of expression, which also means he has the right to play the uncouth jerk.
It is rather how that privilege is utilised that makes Amos the kind of person not deserving of admiration and accolade. Not that he must be delivered a harsh sentence for his somewhat superficial offenses; I find it unsettling the heavy-handed manner in which the Singapore judicial authorities penalised him for intending to hurt religious feelings and posting an obscene image — so much so that he appeared traumatised by the ordeal. It would almost have been akin to the draconian act of chopping off somebody’s hand for simply being a thief. In fact, wouldn’t Amos’ immaturity be a significant mitigating factor?
But let’s not use human rights and subjective definitions of legality to efface the evidently anti-social aspect of Amos’ character: He clearly does not care for others and should never be conferred a dignifying public sympathy, other than a plea for compassion on his behalf that the court be fairer and measured in its response to him and his likes.
It is unmistakable from the start that Amos’ reputation as a social pariah is a result of his own follies. He first gained notoriety by doing what he does best: seeking primarily to offend rather than to inform. There is nothing wrong to analyse and criticise religion as long as it is done with constructiveness and decorum. Heck, even books like The God Delusion and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail are allowed to be sold in Singapore bookstores.
However, Amos sees his controversial YouTube discourses as a means to troll and cause distress to his targeted audiences. In one blog post, he blatantly stated: “I’m pretty disappointed when Christians and Muslims claim that they are not offended by my comments.”
Amos also falsely accused a Christian counsellor — who had bailed him out after he was arrested — of molestation, then proceeded to ridicule him after lying that he would apologise for the allegation. He obviously has no qualms about ruining other people’s credibility, even of those who are trying to help him.
So why be swooned over by his ostensible display of intelligence in his words? Alex DeLarge of A Clockwork Orange is also the kind of classy and smart chap who will not give a damn about political correctness, just like Amos. And one would probably root for the character until that infamous rape scene and Alex’s penchant for extreme violence.
Clever, unkind assholes exist in real-life as well, but tell me one whom you could excuse his douchebaggery due to his intellect or his right to freely express: Martin Shkreli. Richard B. Spencer. Milo Yiannopoulos.
Still, it is safe to assume that Amos will not deliver racist rhetoric or raise the price of critical medicine to US$750 per pill, regardless his dubious morals. Hopefully, he uses his time well for whatever cause he commits to out of “impulse” — like promoting anarchical communism in a nation where people are either swinging to the left or right.
It is worth noting that Spencer got publicly socked twice and his attacker was never caught (not lucky for those who have roughed up Amos back in Singapore).
That should be a good introduction to what would be a permanent US residency for Amos Yee: Be free to say what you want, in the way you like. But provocative words beget strong reactions and a more open public sphere enables belligerent individuals to respond and get away scot-free.
After all, even in a free society, people apparently don’t have much patience for trolls.
