Amos Yee.

So recently there was that kid called Amos Yee who made this really offensive(subjective opinion of the masses,  I didn't find it to be so but I tend detach myself from emotional or opinionated things and look at it very objectively) video on the first Prime Minister of Singapore. As this post is not about the first PM of Singapore, I shan't say anything beyond that I didn't really grieve his passing. People die, that's what people do when they reach old age. He's reached 91 and that's actually pretty good, most people don't get to live that long. He's also left behind a permanent trace of himself in his legacy, which is Singapore, good for him. I think that's what people should strive to do; leave something behind that you can be proud of.

Now on to our main topic. I realise how much Amos and I are actually pretty similiar. Opinions and personality wise. When faced with something that we view to be an injustice or we feel that it isn't right, we can never be silenced. Even if it causes us to burn for what we have said, we'd burn on that stake with a smile on our faces. Hark back to that incident some weeks ago about that Faceraping and the teachers that handled it. I had written a really long letter that I had wanted to send but finally didn't. And I said to my friends who advised me not to send it, "I'd go out in a blaze of my own glory. At least I know that I tried." In that sense, I think we both are pretty similiar to Mr Lee, if we see that something isn't right, we'll fight till it is or die trying. I've read his blog post on his 4 years of Sec School life(and we both came from the same school, he was 1 year my junior) and I've agreed with some of his opinions on respect, that it is something that should be earned through actions and words than position of authority or power or fear.

The school actually does advocate the idea of avoiding controversy to protect the 100+ years of the school's reputation and it's pretty much a Chinese school so obviously it'd be very conservative, something I think Amos should have considered before deciding to enrol here, if he did chose it. Then again, we live in Singapore, an Asian country with Asian values, Asian parents, Asian culture. It's all very traditional, the idea that with age comes maturity and wisdom. Grades are important. "I am older or in a higher position than you so you must respect me." And yes, the long pants are soooo comfortable. And actually if you ask me, all secondary schools should make long pants a thing since Sec 1. If you make them think the long pants grant you maturity, then giving them to you will make you think you're mature and so you'll be mature. A placebo effect. And regarding the CCA side, well...

An opinion that has been riding in my head for a while is that my CCA, which was NCC is in my opinion, pretty much doomed ever since there was a change in the head teacher for it. He instigated a new "rule" that if you want a position of leadership, you'd have to have good grades for it. That's what killed it in my opinion. Some twerp with zero leadership but amazing grades would get a leadership position, and who'd follow his command? No one. And what you have on your hands then? Ineffective leadership and declining performance across the board. Also there was this thing where all the Sec 3s have to come back for CCA in NCC. Sec 3 being the year where we take on the various leadership positions of S1, S2, S3 and S4. S1 being the Admin, S2 being the platoon leaders of Sec 1 and 2, S3 being the PTI and S4 which is Logistics. So how many of us actually get leadership positions? 2 S1, 4 S2. 2-3 S3 and 2 S4. Which gives us a number of about 10. Max of probably about 12. In a platoon of 24 members minimum? That leaves half or more of us with absolutely nothing.

I was placed in the Admin department as a member. And I can tell you that I have never once seen the attendance sheet(that's how much I know about being in S1, taking attendance) nor touched it before in my entire career. Shit, the juniors don't even know my rank. I've never been greeted by them. I've pretty much not done much at all in relation to leading my juniors except escorting the ones who report sick back to the canteen and I don't even know shit about being a medic. That's me and the rest of the half of my platoon. We really don't get to do much at all. We don't even know why we're there for "training". There's none to be had and none to do. We were actually told by the teachers to go do drills or something. Cometh the fuck on. We've done enough of it in Sec 1 and 2, where's our time to show our stuff? And I have it better than some of my platoon mates. Unlike them, I have obligations with regards to shooting in NCC. I think I've done more live firing than any of my other platoon mates and have gone on quite a few trips out of school to better my skills or represent the school. There are others in the Orienteering team and the Drills people(can't remember what we used to call that Advanced Drills or something). My other 2 "members" of the S1 are examples of those that really have nothing else to do in NCC. My constant companions in wondering what are going to do in every training session. Probably nothing.

I digress, back to topic.In my opinion, he's probably a psychopath. No no, he's not going to go about killing people soon. He just has traits that psychopaths have. And believe it or not, many people around you probably have them as well. They are actually pretty common, these "psychopaths". He shows no remorse being arrested and having his charges read out to him, that's one of the signs. And you know what,  Singapore? I actually think arresting him has helped him achieve his goal. He wanted influence. He wanted his idea out there, he wanted controversy. He wanted to prove his point. And arresting him also proved his point in that anyone who has an idea that was controversial would be arrested and charged. Clap clap clap. You guys just proved his point. And he doesn't care that he was being punished for what he's said. Based on his blogpost about his school life, he's actually grown immune to that. It'd just make him want to voice out more of his opinions and more strongly those he's already voiced. He's a smart man. His words were probably very well thought out, even the vulgarities. He wanted to make sure he'd be arrested for it. He made sure to push the right buttons to draw the attention to him to get his point out there. He knew what he was doing. He knew alright. To those out there that aren't looking at the minute details, it'd just appear to you that he's an insensitive and unappreciative brat. Despite all appearances, he's actually won. You've all just made a fool of yourselves.

So that's my analysis, in a brief summary, I am quite like him in my opinion and judgement of myself, and that by arresting him, he actually won. He's proven his point that anyone who says anything controversial in Singapore would be arrested. Psychopath. Genius. A lone wolf. An iconoclast.