Today newspaper used Amos Yee's 76-year-old grandma to demonise Internet

They obviously couldn't get a word out of his parents, so they got something out of the elderly woman. Classy.

Belmont Lay| May 13, 03:07 PM

Today newspaper has scraped the bottom of the reporting barrel with their latest "scoop" on Amos Yee.

In an article, "Grandson ‘antisocial after getting addicted to Internet’" on May 13, 2015, they not only resorted to interviewing the teenager's 76-year-old grandmother, but even revealed the location of the family's flat.

(For Singaporeans in the know, Shunfu is not a big estate.)

Click on photo to go to article:

amos-yee-today

This is what the grandmother said, as reported by Today:

Teen blogger Amos Yee was a “normal” child who became antisocial after getting hooked to the Internet, his paternal grandmother said yesterday.

“He is a very smart boy, learns taekwondo,” Madam Chung Nyet Min, 76, said in Mandarin.

She said Amos started to devote much time to his computer when he entered his teens. “He rarely goes out with his friends ... When I asked why he spends so much time on the computer, he told me that there are a lot of things to learn on the computer,” she said at the family’s flat in Shunfu Road in Bishan.

If read as a grandchild being admonished by a concerned grandmother, it would have been innocuous enough.

However, there is a need to consider the wider context of why Amos' grandmother had to be quoted.

It is apparent, based on observations of the mainstream media's coverage of the Amos Yee hullabaloo, that the teen's parents -- Alphonsus and Mary Yee -- have been savvy and taciturn enough not to speak to the local media, lest what they say becomes fodder to be published and used against them.

From the same Today article:

When approached outside the courthouse, Amos’ father, Mr Alphonsus Yee, said he had no comment on the verdict. The teen’s mother, Madam Mary Toh, declined to speak to reporters.

The good news, though, is that there is backlash generated by the piece:

THIS'>

IS A HIGHLY IRRESPONSIBLE ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN TODAY ONLINE EARLY THIS MORNING AND REPUBLISHED ON THE CHANNEL...

Posted by Vincent Wijeysingha on Tuesday, May 12, 2015

fb-comments-amos-yee-today

Previously, Today had erroneously characterised Amos Yee's departure from Catholic Church as him being asked to leave, when in fact the teenager left on his own accord.

 

Related articles:

The Catholic church clarifies that Amos left church on his own accord

Did the Catholic church kick out Amos Yee or did he leave the church voluntarily?

Lawyer rebukes the press for their coverage of Amos Yee, as teen pleads not guilty

 

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.