Amos Yee, the teen blogger who was convicted for criticising Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, is missing from his home since 12 Dec 2015. Yee was sentenced to four weeks jail for cutting a video comparing Lee to Jesus. He also uploaded an image depicting Lee and Margaret Thatcher engaged in anal sex to his blog.
In December 2015, Yee was subjected to another police investigation for allegedly posting offensive material on his blog. In one of his posts on 27 November 2015, Amos uploaded a post on his personal blog which made reference to former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng and Islam.
Yee’s mother, Mary Toh, writing in her Facebook said that he “disappeared soon after receiving the police letter handed to him personally at our doorstep. Afterwards, he just kept quiet, and paced furiously around the house. I went to sleep at night and the next morning, he was gone.”
Toh worries for her son’s well-being, “Is he safe? Does he have enough money for food and lodging? How can he survive on his own without any help? Why has he been quiet online for so long?”
Toh further said in her post that she believed that Yee was arrested just for criticising Mr Lee so soon after his death. Referring to the ongoing second investigation Toh said, “saying that Amos had offended Islam was just another excuse to arrest and silence him.”
“Although he wasn’t charged and was only asked to show up for an investigation, he knew that if the investigation continued, he would definitely be charged and sentenced, and this time since it was a repeated offence, probably sent to 3 years of RTC, which is why he chose to run away from home,” Toh added.
Toh also worries that her son may have run out of money for his daily living.
Toh’s public Facebook page however appears to be recently created. She has personal Facebook page which has not been updated since July 2015.
A person closely associated with Yee spoke to this publication on conditions of anonymity said that he believes that the new Facebook page is probably not fake. But he also believes that Yee is safe, and knows exactly what he is doing.
“We are talking about an individual who knows how to use the media to his full advantage,” the person said.
In 2016, Yee became liable for national service. If he fails to report for the compulsory military service he may be charged and convicted for up to both three years’ imprisonment and a fine of S$10,000 under the Enlistment Act 1970.
