May 07, 11:13 AM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 Teenager Amos Yee - a household name for all the wrong reasons - is now on a two-day trial this morning for charges pertaining to his comments on Christianity and a lewd depiction of late British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher and Lee Kuan Yew.
Here’s what you need to know about Amos Yee:
Who is Amos?
Yee is a 16-year-old former child star turned You-Tube blogger. He posted an eight-minute long video, titled “Lee Kuan Yew Is Finally Dead”, which made comparisons between the late Mr Lee and Jesus.
What is Amos being charged with?
Yee is being charged with the Penal Code for promoting feelings of enmity with his comments on Christianity, as well as distributing a lewd depiction of Thatcher and Lee engaging in obscene acts on his blog.
A third charge, which will be tried at an unknown date, involves the Protection from Harassment Act. Yee was charged for posting the video, which could be "heard and seen by persons likely to be distressed”.
Who are all these people who are talking about him? What are they saying?
From The New Yorker’s Nathan Heller to local celebrities drumming publicity up for their new film, Yee become a talking point for his video rant on the late Lee.
Yee’s video came four days into the period of mourning, which saw a massive queue to visit Lee Kuan Yew lying in state. Naturally, the public was outraged - more than 20 police reports were made about his video.
Many condemned Yee’s parents for his behaviour. Actress Quan Yifeng, in a promotional event for cosplay film Young and Fabulous, said that Yee had an illness. "His parents should have brought him to see a doctor a long time ago,” she said.
Source: Screenshot of SPH Razor TV
The New Yorker’s Nathan Heller said that Yee had “all the hallmarks of a green and thriving mind.” He praised Yee for his precocity, saying that Yee seemed to have the intention of unsettling "existing Singaporean power structure enough that young people have no choice but to broaden their expectations."
There were also others who thought that the online reaction to Yee was too “vulgar and threatening”. The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) and the Media Literacy Council (MLC) both made statements urging people to remain civil.
SKM called for the need to disagree graciously, as “vengeance is not justice". The SKM statement added that "the way we respond to offence can reflect more poorly on ourselves than the original offender.”
Why did Amos breach his bail conditions twice?
Yee breached his bail conditions for the first time on April 14 to post a fundraising appeal on his blog. He claimed that he only had $70 left in his bank account, and that his parents were unable and unwilling to pay for his court case.
His crowd-funding mirrored that of CPF blogger Roy Ngerng, who went online to fund his legal defence after being sued by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. More notably, Ngerng is one of Yee’s most vocal supporters, and has been seen in attendance at several of Yee’s pre-trial conferences.
Yee broke his bail conditions the second time on April 29, claiming that his father was abusive and that his terms of bail was ridiculous in two blog posts. In several Facebook posts, he also questioned the order to make his offending YouTube video private, and whether the man who threatened to cut Yee’s privates off would be charged.
How much has Yee collected for his fundraising?
It is not known how much has been collected.
Yee stated in his blog that it was “exhilarating to see copious amounts of money coming in”.
Yee has 13 patrons pledging $111.02 per month on his Patreon page, which he stated was for support of his “artistic endeavours”.
Who was the person who slapped Amos?
Quite simply, he is a 49-year-old man. His identity and motive is unknown. The man yelled taunts of “sue me” after the slap.
The slap was as equally controversial as his video, with Law Minister K Shanmugam denouncing it.
Amos'>
Posted by K Shanmugam Sc on Thursday, April 30, 2015
A blog post by former journalist Bertha Henson discussed the slap, with Henson admitting that she got "vicarious pleasure from seeing the slap administered”.
Who are the people helping him?
Alfred Dodwell, who is the main counsel acting on behalf of Yee, sits on the board of alternative news site The Independent Singapore. Dodwell and two other lawyers, Chong Jia Hao and Ervin Tan are representing Yee in the case pro bono.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="414"]
Photo of Dodwell by Ng Yi Shu[/caption]
"We may not agree with him on what he has posted… (but) if it is a crime it has to be proven in the court of law and it needs some level of representation, that’s what we’re doing in this case,” Dodwell told Channel NewsAsia.
Vincent Law, the man who bailed Yee out for the second time, is a youth counsellor and former director of migrant worker welfare group HealthServe. Law had told Channel NewsAsia he was stepping up to say that as a Christian he was not offended.
After Yee breached bail conditions for the second time, Law came out to say that he had offered to bail out Yee for a third time, but Yee refused as he would breach the bail conditions. Law told socio-political site The Online Citizen that he was already mentally prepared that Yee would breach bail conditions for a second time.
He (Vincent Law) thinks that he is grateful to have the opportunity to interact with Amos through the bail, to allow Amos to face a Christian in person to address his generalization view that Christians are ignorant & stupid people.
Mr Law in his words to Amos when he bailed him out, “I may not approve or agree what you say, but I will defend your right to say what you want to say.”
What are the potential ripple effects of his charges?
Yee will be the first to be tried under the Protection from Harassment Act if the trial of his third charge goes to court. Until now, the Act has only been used in protection orders, like in blogger Xiaxue’s application for a protection order against SMRT Ltd (Feedback).
What are the potential consequences of Yee's actions?
If found guilty, Yee may be jailed for up to 3 years for the charge of promoting feellings of enmity under Section 298 of the Penal Code or face a fine, or both.
Yee may also face a fine, or jail of up to three months, or both for the second charge of obscenity under Section 292 of the Penal Code.
Yee may also face a fine not exceeding $5,000 for the charge of making an insulting communication seen by persons likely to be distressed under Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act.
Top photo from here.