16-year-old Singapore amateur actor Amos Yee made insensitive comments on Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity.A 16-year-old Singapore amateur actor who appeared in a video clip celebrating the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has been detained by police, local media reported.
Amos Yee was held by police on Sunday after at least 20 police reports were lodged against him, according to The Straits Times. However, it is unclear what charges Amos faces for statements he made in the eight-minute video titled “Lee Kuan Yew Is Finally Dead!”.
“Lee Kuan Yew is a horrible person because everyone is afraid that if they say something like that, they might get into trouble,” Amos said in the video which was uploaded to Youtube on Friday.
Lee died last Monday age 91 after a long illness. On Sunday, about 100,000 people lined a 15-kilometer route through the city to catch a glimpse of the funeral cortege for his state funeral.
Amos also compared Lee to Jesus Christ, saying they “are both power-hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking they are both compassionate and kind.”
He went also challenged Lee Hsien Loong, current Singapore prime minister and son of the late Lee, saying “If Lee Hsien Loong wishes to sue me, I will oblige to dance with him”.
The controversial video clip had been watched at least 270,000 times before it was taken down from YouTube over the weekend. People who left comments under the videos criticised the teenager for his lack of respect for Singapore’s founding father Lee.
Lawyer Chia Boon Teck, who filed one of the police reports said: “He has to take responsibility for his social media posting that was calculated to provoke the public’s response”.