Leave Amos Yee Alone

Why is The Straits Times so fascinated about Amos Yee? [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

ST's Aqil Hamzah wrote [1]:

At his sentencing in December 2021, he had been advised by Judge Carol Howard that pleading guilty to the charges meant he could be deported, denied admission to the US, or denied naturalisation as a US citizen in the future. The convictions could also affect his ability to obtain housing, employment and other licences, including a driving licence.

The Straits Times has contacted the US Department of Justice to find out the conditions of Yee’s parole, as well as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to learn if he will be deported.

Yee had fled Singapore for the US in December 2016, a day before he was supposed to report for a medical examination ahead of his enlistment into national service.

He was granted political asylum in the US in 2017 after citing persecution for his political opinions, following two separate incidents that saw him jailed twice in Singapore.

…

ST has contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs to find out if Yee will be detained if he were to be deported back here. 

Aqil Hamzah seems strangely dissatisfied with Yee's being paroled "barely halfway" into his six-year jail term in the US for grooming a teenage girl and possessing child pornography.

Aqil Hamzah even saw the need to repeat the details of Yee's offence [1]:

In February 2019, he repeatedly requested that the victim – a 14-year-old girl who lived in Texas – provide photos of herself in the nude, with him returning in kind.

He also engaged in role play and sexual fantasies with her, and exchanged thousands of messages.

The Chicago Sun-Times daily newspaper reported then that the girl had repeatedly brought up her age in messages with Yee on WhatsApp, the messaging platform on which they communicated.

Yee then instructed her to remove her age from her WhatsApp profile.

During his sentencing, he had an additional 16 other child pornography-related charges dismissed as part of a plea deal he accepted,

It's time to move on and leave Yee alone.

There are more newsworthy Singaporeans and more important matters that ST, which is now funded by Singapore taxes, could or should devote its resources to reporting on.

Notes

1. S'porean Amos Yee released from US prison after serving half of 6-year term for sex-related offences (The Straits Times, updated 8 Oct 2023, 10:23pm).

2. S'porean blogger Amos Yee sentenced to 6 years' jail in US for child pornography, grooming (The Straits Times, updated 3 Dec 2021, 9:15pm).

3. S'porean blogger Amos Yee facing porn-related charges in US, considering plea deal (The Straits Times, updated 13 Nov 2021, 8:36pm).

4. Amos Yee says he looks forward to making new videos after being granted asylum in US (The Straits Times, 27 Sep 2017, 11:46am).

5. Amos Yee: Prerogative of the US to take in people who engage in hate speech, says Singapore (The Straits Times, 25 Mar 2017, 7:46pm).