Tag: Lee Kuan Yew

Amos Yee Set To Find Out Details Of Reformative Training Report

Teenage blogger Amos Yee is set to appear in court on Tuesday morning after spending three weeks in remand. He will find out if he is suitable for reformative training.

The 16-year-old had been found guilty on May 12 of making remarks intending to hurt the feelings of Christians in a video as well as uploading an obscene image.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur had called for a report on June 2 to assess if Yee is physically and mentally suitable for reformative training.

Yee was found guilty of deliberately hurting the feelings of Christians in the YouTube video, which criticised Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The obscene image had the faces of Mr Lee and former British premier Margaret Thatcher superimposed on it.

The prosecution had called for Yee to be sent for reformative training, as he had not cooperated with his assigned probation officer.

The defence, however, argued this was a disproportionate punishment for Yee’s offence.

On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Office for South-east Asia called for Yee’s immediate release.

In a statement, the Bangkok-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) urged the Singapore Government to review his conviction. It also asked that prosecutors drop their demand that Yee be sentenced to a stint at the Reformative Training Centre (RTC).

Reformative training is a rehabilitative sentencing option for young offenders aged under 21 who are found to be unsuitable for probation.

A stint at RTC lasts between 18 and 30 months, and includes structured rehabilitation programmes, foot drills, and counselling. Offenders will not have contact with adult prison inmates.

Although Yee has been in remand for three weeks without access to any telecommunications devices, his Facebook page has been constantly updated since last Thursday.

The posts, the origins of which remain unclear, centre largely around his grievances towards life in Changi Prison, such as the lack of sunshine or privacy in his cell.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 23, 2015
Amos Yee Is Talking To Himself And Hallucinating In Prison

Ever since Amos Yee was forced into 3 weeks remand, there has been little news about his condition apart from the revelations by his lawyer Alfred Dodwell who has since been censored for publishing court documents.

A reader alerted us to Amos’s mothers Facebook which clearly shows the ill-effects of prison life taking its toll on Amos’s mental health.

Amos’s mother Mary said:

“Amos’ cellmates told him that he could be suffering from hallucinations. He was seen talking to himself and hitting the walls repeatedly. He became worried as he could not remember any such things done. He also has difficulty falling asleep, having only about 2 to 3 hrs of sleep everyday.

Amos looks even skinnier today. He said pimples have grown on his body and made him feel itchy. When I told him that Dodwell & TOC were told to remove the ‘Firm Letter to Court’, he kept asking, “Why? Why remove?” At one point, he hit repeatedly on the glass piece separating us apart so hard that it invited 3 police officers over.”

It appears that Amos is not coping well with prison and may be suffering from a mental breakdown. Is this how Singapore treats our 16 year olds? What do you think? Does Amos deserve such harsh and draconian treatment?

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

June 19, 2015
1965 Dramatic Thriller, Not Lee Kuan Yew Biopic

Scenes of the race riots of the early 1960s juxtaposed against happier occasions among Singapore’s ethnic communities, and a clip of actor Lim Kay Tong as Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew calling for Singapore to be a multicultural nation.

Film-makers Randy Ang and Daniel Yun shared a glimpse of the highly-anticipated film 1965, when they screened the film’s trailer at a press conference yesterday (June 17) at Shaw Lido.

However, both Mr Ang and Mr Yun were quick to reiterate that the movie, which tracks events in Singapore in the early 1960s leading up to independence in 1965, is not just about the race riots.

“It is not a biopic of Lee Kuan Yew, it’s not a propaganda film, it is not a documentary or a political film,” said Mr Yun, the executive producer and co-director for 1965. “It’s a dramatic thriller based on historical events, and touches on something fragile — racial harmony and some of the peace that we experience right now.”

Mr Yun also said the movie was not just about looking back into the past. “Towards the end of the film, we sort of ask, ‘What’s next?’ That really is what this film is about. We showed what happened in 1965, then there’s a segment where we show the present day, but then we ask what’s the next 50 years going to be like.”

More importantly, he added, it stresses the idea of home, a sentiment that actress Joanne Peh, who plays Chinese immigrant Zhou Jun in the film, echoed. “Until I did this movie, I never questioned the sense of home,” she said. “I was born in the ’80s and there was peace and harmony. For (my character), coming from China and settling in Singapore was a temporary situation … but we take (the idea of home) for granted.”

Also introduced at the press conference were the official promotional posters and two songs written for the movie: Selamat Pagi by Sezairi, who also has a role in the film, and a new song by singer-songwriter Gentle Bones.

Mr Yun is aiming high for the movie. “We hoping that this is a movie that can (have) box office (takings) of S$3 million to S$6 million. You never know — we could do better,” he said.

Despite the movie being a period piece set in Singapore, Mr Ang said the film has legs to run well beyond SG50. “There are some universal truths in the film,” he said. “The film may be released for SG50 but even more than that, the racial and social discord (in the film) is something that is still happening. We had it here in the past, but elsewhere it’s still happening.”

Mr Yun agreed that the film could have international appeal, adding that they are looking to market the film outside of the Republic, like in Malaysia, India and China.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 18, 2015
Singapore Will Benefit When All Citizens Are Treated Equally

I refer to the report, “Conservative S’pore ‘not ready for same-sex marriage’” (June 6).

Law-making premised simply on the majoritarian position is dangerous. Democracy is not simply about majority rule; it is also about protecting minority rights. This is why we have the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.

This principle, however, should apply to all minorities, including sexual minorities. In fact, to be truly impartial, the State should just protect individual rights. Minority rights are individual rights, as the individual is the smallest minority.

Legalising same-sex marriage means respecting individual liberties. It does not mean promoting same-sex marriage. Singapore society may frown upon adultery, gambling or prostitution, but these are all legal.

Scientific studies have shown that being inclusive improves public health. The New England Journal of Medicine even published a recent editorial supporting same-sex marriage. Is our Health Ministry not ready to improve public health?

Also, research by economics professor M. V. Lee Badgett shows that anti-gay laws have an economic cost. Is our Trade and Industry Ministry not ready to grow our economy more?

Singapore society may indeed be conservative and not ready for same-sex marriage. But is that justification for the state itself to dash any citizen’s dream?

Many Singaporeans readily paid tribute to founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew after his death. As we celebrate our Golden Jubilee, let us honour his legacy of being a pragmatist and empiricist.

The evidence is clear: Singapore stands to benefit when all its citizens are treated equally.

This article, written by Bryan Kwa Jie Wen, first appeared on Voices, Today, on 10 Jun 2015.

Source:www.todayonline.com

June 12, 2015
Lee Hsien Yang: Oxley Rise Home To Be Demolished

The second son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Yang, has made a press release confirming that his father’s wish will be respected and the Oxley Road house will be demolished:

“In accordance with our late father’s last Will and Testament that his house at 38 Oxley Road be demolished, my sister and I, as the executors and trustees of the estate, believe it is only appropriate that some of his personal items of historic importance, that have been used by him at the house, be donated to the NHB for the people of Singapore who honoured him with their love and respect during our recent bereavement.”

Previously the Singapore Government intended to preserve Lee Kuan Yew’s more than 100 year old bungalow as a national monument and even have laws under the Preservation of Monuments Act to over-rule his will.

According to Lee Hsien Yang, all personal items of historical value will be donated to the National Heritage Board and he has signed the deed on Monday (June 8).

Source: http://statestimesreview.com

June 12, 2015