On Aug. 31, 2017, American website BuzzFeed published a piece on Singapore's only anarchist teenager, Amos Yee.

The writer, a certain Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, couched her subject as such: “This Teen Troll Fled To The US For Political Asylum. Now He’s Stuck In A Detention Center”.

Basically, the entire piece is a rehash of the whole Amos Yee saga thus far, written in an overly sympathetic tone.

It positions the teenager as a troll asylum seeker, who is stuck in limbo due to the current United States troll presidency -- while laughably referring to Yee as a "prisoner of conscience" with a straight face.

More informative though, are the exclusive interviews with Yee and his associates that partially shed light on who got him to where he is today -- in indefinite detention -- by providing an account of his ill-conceived journey to the US that have not been documented in the press so far.

Angle of story trite

As any casual reader from Singapore can easily tell, the piece is tainted by the usual biases and run-of-the-mill liberal, pop cultural and academic misreadings of what Singapore is about.

For example, it uses Haw Par Villa and its freakish dioramas as a telling example of what Singapore does to discipline its citizenry. (Hahahaha.)

And then uses broad strokes to look well-informed, as revealed by this passage:

Many Singaporeans are brought up with deep-rooted Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian values, conveyed at home and in school. You could compare the city-state’s penal system to a beefed-up, nationwide "broken windows" policy that aims to stop untoward behavior before it begins.

But for all its misgivings it has about the Singapore system and what it has purportedly done to Yee, 18 -- essentially chewing him up and spitting him out -- the piece is insightful in its own right.

Namely, it reveals the petulant, immature and rash nature of the most irascible teen Singapore has produced, for who he is.

Yee did not have a concrete plan when he fled to the US

One of the most standout revelations in the story is how Yee did not even hatch half a good plan before making his way to the United States.

For example, he had been coached to say one thing to immigration when he landed in O'Hare airport on Dec. 16, 2016, which was that he was visiting Chicago, but botched it because he couldn't follow through.

He then changed his tune and had his mobile phone confiscated, which revealed the texts that showed he was up to something else -- his plan to seek political asylum.

And the reason he was even persuaded to go to the US in the first place was because he interacted with some people online, who kind of mentioned it might be a good idea.

Ultimately, Yee did not have any plan on how he was supposed to support himself when he landed in a foreign land or even recognise how ill-prepared he was in planning on what he was going to do to survive.

Via the article:

“I asked, ‘How are you going to live? How are you going to make money in the US?’ And it didn’t appear to me that he put thought into it.”

The article makes clear what he despises though: His mom, rules and religions.

And all he knew he wanted to do was get out of Singapore and become popular.

“I wanted to make a mark on the world and get the greatest amount of publicity,” he said.

Characterising Yee's medical treatment as derogatory

The BuzzFeed piece also noted that Yee was diagnosed with autism.

However, the treatment he received in confinement prior to prison has been characterised as a form of victimisation.

BuzzFeed wrote:

Yee’s first trial took place that summer. He was found guilty of uploading obscene content and offending Christians. In a presentencing report that June, he was described as showing signs of autism, then taken to a psychiatric hospital for “reformative training” for two weeks, where he was held in solitary confinement, tied down, and forcibly medicated, according to legal documents. This time counted toward his four-week jail sentence, which he was handed in July. He turned down an offer to serve probation instead.

The "reformative training" that Yee is said to have received in a "psychiatric hospital" is most likely false.

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The person doing his PR supports Trump

Not only does Yee go along with any harebrained idea he suddenly fancies or fall for any political ideology he happens to read about -- a point raised in the article -- he has a habit of attracting political entrepreneurs and opportunists.

The following anecdote, from the article, proves birds of a feather flock together.

Yee arrived in the US just weeks after Donald Trump won the election.

A change in policy resulted in asylum-seekers denied parole in the midst of proceedings.

And the person currently helping Yee run his public relations activities is a Trump supporter, Adam Lowisz.

Lowisz is described as a card-carrying secularist and an advocate for free speech -- plus, a two-time Obama voter, who now supports Trump.

Lowisz is coordinating media coverage, posting to Yee’s Facebook account, soliciting donations and sending the young prisoner books.

Yee is getting fat in detention

Besides only knowing he wants to get famous and make videos, Yee is having a relatively swell time in prison -- literally.

Money sent to Yee in jail has been spent on junk food at an alarming rate and he is getting fat.

And it appears it is this sort of short-term outlook and impulsive behaviour that Yee possesses that is even making a free and liberal country such as the US think twice.

The lawyers arguing against Yee's asylum bid are worried about his "antisocial behaviour" and granting a discretionary form of relief to Yee is to implicitly approve of trolling and abusive behaviour.

The lawyers argued:

“If the Immigration Judge’s decision is upheld, it will serve as a symbol of hope to all of the internet bullies and conspiracy theorists throughout the world, that no matter how foul your behavior, the United States will not allow anyone to stop you.”

All in all, a terrible piece of writing but worth a read.

If you have like, 15 minutes you don't need to get back.

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