UN Human Rights Office calls for the release of Amos Yee

So the Amos Yee saga continues.

Following the social media online, it seems that the general consensus is that the government has gone too far to punish Amos Yee.

Personally, I don't think that he's mentally ill enough to be remanded into IMH. Look, he's a smart kid who behaved in a stupid idiotic manner. Stupidity is not a mental illness. There are a lot of stupid people in Singapore, just look at all the type nonsense that are posted on online forums for evidence.

Somehow from somewhere, there's this UN Human Rights Office that has suddenly come out to call for the release of Amos Yee. Just because you say that we should release Amos Yee and we should listen to you? What if you change your tune and say we should give Amos a BMW? When it comes to the law, there's very little leeway for flexibility.

Should the government just drop that case? Would they drop the case? I don't think so. They have to follow through to the end. If not then they are no different from the AWOLED doctor Wang Yinchu they gave 18 months detention to. I mean, you wouldn't like a government that do things halfway right?

Amos Yee tried to refute the charges against him.

Let's see the charges as he wrote on his blog.

1st charge – Charged for deliberately intending to wound the religious feelings of Christians in general and the feelings of Fong Huiling Pamela, female 26 years old and Lim Zijin, male 27 years old in particular (Section 298 – wounding religious feelings of a person either verbally or through an action) Punishment of up to 3 years, fine or both.

2nd Charge – Charged for insulting Lee Kuan Yew and intending for it to viewed by people who would be distressed by it(Section 4(1)(b) punishable under section 4(2)) Punishment of up to a $5000 fine.

3rd Charge – Charged for uploading an obscene image (Section 292 1(a) – distributes any obscene materials) Punishment of up to 3 months, fine or both

The first charge is serious. YOU DO NOT INSULT/PLAY/USE RELIGION FOR ANY POLITIC CAUSE OR WORSE, ENTERTAINMENT, IN SINGAPORE. If you haven't understand Singapore's history enough, it's the the government will do any and everything to keep things stable. This first charge makes the seriousness of the next two charges seem so pale by comparison.

The second charge I think is a bit far-fetched. Is insulting people a crime? How do you quantify those people who are hurt by the insult? How do you measure their distress? And are they made less off that they cannot recover because of the distress? This is a stupid charge. Oops. Did I insult anyone by saying stupid?

3rd charge of uploading obscene image. Amos Yee may not have known that there's this law in Singapore. Sure. I don't doubt that. Tourists who litter in Singapore also may not know that littering is a crime in Singapore. Look, the picture of Lee Kuan Yew buttfucking Margaret Thatcher is clearly obscene. Any reasonable person can tell that. There's no need to write a few paragraphs to refute something that's so clear.

This Amos Yee saga is a sad case. It's sad that it has been allowed to drag on for so long.

But Amos Yee brought it upon himself. He was given the chance to back up. But he even sabotaged his own bailor Vincent Law by claiming that he was molested, only to reveal much later that it was a lie. He has the heavens to thank that Vincent Law did not sue him.

What I find sad about the whole thing is Amos Yee didn't show any remorse. He isn't apologetic at all. Even when he's now a pale shadow of his former arrogant self, he has not apologise to anyone. I know apologies can be cheap, but for Amos Yee to not apologise, it just shows that he has learned nothing from in.

I would think that Amos Yee would gain humility from all these, but now I think otherwise. I have no idea what that little kid wants. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he wants also.

Pasir Ris One DBSS is wow, plain ugly

Reference: Pasir Ris ONE DBSS – yet another development under fire

When I saw the photos of Pasir Ris One DBSS, I was "stunned like vegetable".

Alright, the exterior is ugly. That's not surprising coming from a HDB project. But the interior really looks like a prison corridor. Unbelievable. So that's the standard housing planners nowadays?

Court gives doctor gets 18 months DB for AWOL

Reference: When a Dream-Chasing Doctor is No Better than an Upskirt Pervert
Longer detention for doctor who went AWOL

This to me is a very sad story.

One month to completing NS, Wang Yinchu AWOLed in order to get into Cambridge to purse his medical education.

Mindef refused to approve his disruption. If you're so powerful, you should be confident enough to approve the disruption and force the guy to continue when he comes back to Singapore.

This article is not about what could have been.

I guess many people would read the story and get caught up by the details. A doctor's whose bright future is now ruined. There are also people who blamed the doctor for his stupidity, claiming that if he could AWOL, he could also walk out of his patients midway surgery (just like how you don't finish your food on the plate).

Some people are angry at the chief military prosecutor for imposing the 18 month detention.

The main point of the story is Mindef is never known to be flexible.

They are not flexible.

You can die and they will still not be flexible. But they will pay for your cost if they are found to be negligent.

I mean that's it.

Regardless of the story, you can always think forward into the future and know the answer. Mindef is inflexible. The details of the story are just distractions.

What I'm more interested now is what the doctor thinks.

Personally, I think we have lost a Singaporean here, in soul even if it's not in body. It may not be the desired outcome, but it's the unavoidable outcome because of Mindef's flexibility.

Using GDP to calculate Singapore's average salary

Reference: How much do you need to earn to be above Singapore’s “average”?

Read an article on Yahoo Singapore that tried to calculate Singapore's salary using GDP.

Some points to take away.

The high income earners are earning a whole lot more skewing the average upwards. One can only imagine how much they are earning to be able to skew the numbers that high, making the average $9,207 after discounting those who are unemployed.

I was back from Hong Kong a few weeks ago and food there on average cost two times that of Singapore. Hong Kong has roughly the same GDP as Singapore, but has 7.2 million in population vs Singapore's 5.4 million.

What's more interesting would be how the purchasing power of dollar has faded over the years. Or how many years you have to work before you can pay off the loan to your property.

As you can see, it's a very flawed way to calculate GDP. An article written to get eyeballs.

What's preventing the LTA officer from giving summons?

Reference: LTA officer questioned over reluctance to issue summons for illegally parked cars

Interesting story at TOC regarding a LTA officer who refused to give summons for a car clearly in violation of parking laws.

The correct question the citizen should have asked is what's preventing the officer from giving the summons. What a waste of an opportunity to find out the truth.

NUS law professor takes law into his own hands

Reference: NUS law professor in the dock for assaulting cabbie

The irony is thick. I hope this case blows big online and he loses his job.

Backwards-thinking Singtel wants to charge content providers again

Reference: Charge content providers, says Singtel CEO again

Singtel is one of the my most disliked company in Singapore.

I've nothing against them. I've not one of their customers and have not suffered any outages from their services. I, however, am interested in business related stories.

In the recent story by CNA, Singtel CEO Chua Sock Koong has once again said she wanted to charge content providers like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube. That idea really angers me.

That is just so backwards, but coming from a company like SingTel, it's not very surprising. Instead innovating and creating products to get more revenue, now they want to charge content providers who are providing value to their customers.

First of all, Singapore is a small market. Facebook, Whatsapp and Youtube can just block Singapore users from their website. They can easily do that and who's on the losing end? Singaporeans.

Second, most people use those websites. If Singtel is to successfully charge, then I dare say that Starhub and other ISPs will follow suit.

SingTel's business model is so outdated already. Now they want to create a new business model that benefits nobody except themselves. When you're in business, you should be providing value, a service or product, that someone is willing to pay for.


If SingTel cannot innovative, they should not pull the rest of Singapore down with them.

Blaming stray dogs for rat infestation at Bukit Batok

Reference: Don’t blame stray dogs for rat infestation at Bukit Batok: SPCA
Rat infestation near Bukit Batok MRT

This is convenient. Blaming someone who can't talk back.

Video of the Rats at Bukit Batok

Reference: More rats caught in Bukit Batok




Action was only taken after video of the rats running on the small hill beside Bukit Batok MRT was leaked.

When I posted that on my personal Facebook page, a friend messaged me and told me he had alerted the authorities 2 times of the situation. He's not the only person doing that.

It seems that making a video, posting it online is a faster way to get things done. Public shaming the authority seems more effective at getting things done.

GushCloud vs XiaXue

While I don't particularly like XiaXue's blog, I've to admit that she's a good blogger. I only just found out that she has 4 times more traffic than me (not this blog of course) at 40,000 pageviews monthly.

The hottest story online right now is The Big Gushcloud Exposé written by her declaring that GushCloud lied on several fronts.

GushCloud has since rebutted with their own account.

There are a few takeaway points for me.

1. If XiaXue's alleged pageviews of GushCloud's bloggers are correct, then it's quite shocking that so called influencers can be called influencers with that sort of readership. Yan Kay Kay's pageviews, and I'm quoting from GushCloud's rebuttal, is only 974 readers/day. I have around 4,500 readers/day and I consider myself just a writer.

2. Advertisers should demand a print screen of Google Analytics reports to verify the actual pageviews that GushCloud states their bloggers have. In fact GushCloud should make it mandatory for their bloggers to provide Google Analytics reports, or at least install some sort of counters on their blogs. You can be sued by clients for misrepresentation. Now that this news has been blown up, it can get messy if advertisers want to take legal action.

3. XiaXue has just posted an instagram update saying that GushCloud will not be suing her. Note that GushCloud said they want to sue her after XiaXue published her exposé.

Seriously, GushCloud? By not suing her, it just mean to the public that what XiaXue said had some element of truth. If I run my company and I have my numbers right, I would sue straightaway. Apparently after reading GushCloud's report, it seems that they do not have the exact numbers correct. Even the monthly revenue they gave The Straits Times was an honest mistake. Oh my goodness.

I don't take sides but GushCloud has some serious issues with accountability.