Singaporean teenager Amos Yee has returned to Facebook to ask his followers for money. Writing on his social media page on Wednesday, Yee said that he only has $1000 left in his bank account which he intends to use to survive for the next two months.
Revealing that he owes a well-wisher $4000 and that he hopes to lead a relatively good life, where he is able to purchase luxury items he likes, Amos has resorted to crowdfunding online.
In his post, the cash-strapped video blogger also clarified that he does not wish to get a job to earn money:
“Now say in the worse case scenario nobody wants to donate money to support my work and I run out of money. Am I going to get a part-time job that I don’t like? No. I would go and borrow money from people who are willing to lend me something (which very thankfully I think I have a few of.). Most people wouldn’t do that, they’d detest the very idea of not being financially-independent and a ‘low-life’ relying on someone. But to me, it’s very important that I lead the kind of life I want and do the things I love, a part-time job that takes hours off your day ruins that. The feeling of ‘shamelessness’ on relying on others for money is much more worth making half your life or more of your life miserable, at least for me.”
Read his appeal in full here:
Hello! Many people might be curious, so here is my current financial situation:
I have about $1000 right now. Now because I was so fortunate to be able to get a place in Illinois where there’s a free room, electricity, laundry etcetera, just like when I was in Singapore all I really need to spend money on is food, so total expenses is about $400-$600/month (and probably less than that once I start to learn how to cook) so I am at least secure for about 2 months (yay!).
So for the past 2 years while in Singapore I’ve been living off of leftover money from the crowdfunds of my law fees in Singapore and money made from my Youtube videos. 1000 views on Youtube is around a from ads, so I just need 400 thousand total new views a month to be able to survive, which is very achievable, I think I have like 12 videos (each of which takes 4-6 days on average to make) with over 400 thousand views now. I had enough money for the past 2 years, more than during that period I had enough that I actually travelled to Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan (the apolitical trip was quite enjoyable).
Now when I was in American Jail for 10 months and couldn’t make any money from videos, there were people who helped raise over $8000 for lawyer fees and food in jail. 8000 dollars was not enough for 10 months apparently, so I actually owe somebody $4000. However, the guy is really cool, he’s not demanding that I pay him back immediately have to pay an amount in monthly installments or anything. But of course I do wish I can pay him back, and if I start making more than $600/month, I intend to save up and pay him back.
Now if I simply continued making videos I’d definitely be able to survive from money off of ad revenue, and perhaps become pretty rich if my channel’s following gradually grows, IF it was not for the fact that since I was in American Jail, fuck, Youtube Adpocalypse happened.
For those who don’t know, Youtube Adpocalypse is something that happened starting the beginning of this year where advertisers stopped putting ads on content-creators who produced what is considered controversial content. It’s hard to define what Youtube considers controversial, and Youtube is notoriously not transparent. Now more than 50% of the current videos on my channel have been demonetized, and because future videos of mine will obviously deal with controversial political subjects and has vulgar language, there’s a very high chance that more than 50% of my videos will continue to be demonetized and I won’t make money of them.
Now say in the worse case scenario nobody wants to donate money to support my work and I run out of money. Am I going to get a part-time job that I don’t like? No. I would go and borrow money from people who are willing to lend me something (which very thankfully I think I have a few of.). Most people wouldn’t do that, they’d detest the very idea of not being financially-independent and a ‘low-life’ relying on someone. But to me, it’s very important that I lead the kind of life I want and do the things I love, a part-time job that takes hours off your day ruins that. The feeling of ‘shamelessness’ on relying on others for money is much more worth making half your life or more of your life miserable, at least for me.
So basically because of lovely people in my life that I’m very grateful for are willing to provide me welfare, my financial situation will always at least mean I’ll be able to survive and be spend my time watching videos and making videos (activities that I enjoy), but I’m not able to afford any extra entertainment, luxury,expenses outside of food, like buying video games, buying a ticket to travel to another country or US state, buying a $300 Nintendo Switch (this is the worse part), buying as many $6 cake as I want etc.
However, I really do want that $6 cake, and I’d really like to return the $4000 I owe that guy, and I obviously I think the status of being ‘financially independent’ is ideal. So these are my paypal (for direct payments) bank account and patreon (monthly donations) links:
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/amosyeeofficial
Bank account no: Bank of America 291024410812
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/amosyee
Far more so than before, I have to rely on people’s donations for me to make money off of Youtube instead of just views. You can’t imagine how even the smallest donation of $1 can be important. If everyone of my followers just donated $1 to me a month, I would have far more than enough to thrive. Instead of Youtube, you guys are now my employers, and I hope the work I have created and will create in the future will be enough for you to support me with your donation.
Believe me, and the most successful Youtubers would tell you, making videos is legitimate, time-consuming, hard work. That work is so important to me that I literally got arrested 3 times because I insisted on making the type of videos I wanted. This is the craft I want to spend much of my life on, and I really hope to prosper in doing so. For all the people who’ve been watching I cannot express how thankful I am for the support, without which my work would be meaningless. I hope the magic continues
Hello! Many people might be curious, so here is my current financial situation:I have about $1000 right now. Now…
Posted by Amos Yee on Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Yee is presently in the US, having successfully secured political asylum after spending months in detention.
The teenager rose to infamy when he posted controversial videos on his YouTube channel, denigrating Singapore’s first Prime Minister, the late Lee Kuan Yew, right after his death. His comments against Christianity and Islam also caused him to be embroiled in local lawsuits, leading him to seek refuge overseas.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/amos-yee-is-deserving-of-asylum-us-board-of-immigration-appeal-rules/