About 30 representatives from Penang’s civil society organisations showed their supported for jailed Singaporean Amos Yee ( photo ), calling on the Singapore authorities to release the youth immediately.

The group comprising members of Suaram Penang, Bersih Northern Region, Jerit, Lim Lian Geok Foundation (Penang chapter), USM Student Pogressive Front, and USM Chinese Language Society (northern region) alumni, and Parti Sosialis Malaysia, gathered at the Speakers Square along the Esplanade for the event yesterday.

They held placards saying ‘Free Amos’, ‘Freedom of Speech, Let Truth and False  Debate’ ‘PAP should be in IMH’, and ‘Authoritarian Sicko, while chanting ‘Free Amos Yee’.

ENGAGE committee member and political scientist Wong Chin Huat asked since when has “impoliteness” been a crime or is a basis to being committed to a mental institution.

“Yee may be impolite, use a lot of vulgar words and not consider the feeling of the late Lee Kuan Yew’s family, but since when has impolite become insane?” he asked.

Wong said a modern nation should have a certain level of intellect, confidence, and sense, to differentiate between insanity and rudeness.

“The people should be given space to voice out their opinions unless they are inciting violence.

“If he is only impolite, why can't a modern society just guide him, instead of putting him in jail or mental hospital?” he queried.

“Yee’s jailing will tarnish the success story of nation-building under Lee. If the country is so great, can it be undermined by a kid?” he asked.

Singapore ‘creating history’

Bersih northern coordinator Toh Kin Woon said many Singaporeans may admire Lee ( photo ) but they should also respect Yee, who has a different viewpoint.

He said it was “unfair and even cruel” to detain him at the mental hospital.

“According to Nathan Heller in his article in the New Yorker, Yee has all the hallmarks of a green and thriving mind; he is exactly the kind of person you would one day want reviewing your books, making your movies, maybe even running your country,” Toh said.

PKR’s Machang Bubok assemblyman Lee Khai Loon said Yee’s arrest is a violation of human rights and Singapore again created history by classifying someone who criticise the government as insane.

“In Malaysia, we also need to be careful as we are also facing some human rights violation here.”

Yee, who is 17, is considered a political dissident. He  was detained after he uploaded his own video on You Tube entitled ‘Lee Kuan Yew is Finally Dead!’ in March.

He was charged with three offences: wounding religious feelings, posting obscenities, and harassment.

He was subsequently convicted of the first two but the prosecution withdrew the third - harassment.

Judge ordered psychiatric check

Yee was remanded for three weeks in June, after which a district judge ordered that he be sent to the Institute of the Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric examination.

The move by the Singapore government has outraged the international community.

Researcher Lim Chee Han, who read a joint statement by the group, expressed horror over and disapproval of the way Yee had been treated by the Singapore authorities.

Lim also expressed the group’s concerns over Yee’s continued detention at the mental institution, saying this could harm the boy’s general welfare.

“The Singapore authorities and the general public have at their disposal various channels to respond to or even rebut the criticisms that Yee has made, be it in the form of an article or even a video.

“That the Singapore government has opted to clamp down on dissent, instead of engaging in a rational debate or dialogue, clearly demonstrates that it does not believe in liberal democracy,” said Lim.