The Curious Case Of Amos Yee And Vincent Law

This article originally appeared on Vulcan Post. 

We’ve all been through the emotional rollercoaster that has been Amos Yee. Whether you’re a parent-flamer or an awkward spectator, we’ve seen the debacle go on for longer than anyone expected. It’s like a pimple you watch sprout from the edge of your nose that you can’t stop picking on — and will get immense satisfaction from bursting.

Over the weekend, Amos Yee published a blogpost “The Molestation Of Vincent Law”. In it, he shared how he was “emotionally abused” by his bailor Vincent Law, who had, until that point, received positive press. The 6,000 word long blogpost described his experience with Law, highlighting demands to meet daily (“he demanded, without fail, for me to meet up with him, every day”), constant threats to discharge himself as bailor (“Oh well since I’m a Christian, and you don’t like religion, then I guess you don’t like me, so maybe I should just discharge myself as your bailor!”), and several other conversations they had that were shocking.

This was a stark contrast to the Vincent Law interview published on The Online Citizen, which managed to garner sympathy for both Law and Yee. Some parts of the blogpost even seemed to directly address things that Law had said in the interview.

Vincent Law:

“Mr Law said that he did not regret acting as bailor for Amos despite what Amos did to break the conditions of the bail, as he was already mentally prepared that Amos would break them.”

Amos Yee:

“Fucking enraged that I had broken the terms of the bail, and that he had been an ineffectual bailer, when I was going to meet up with the lawyers just before court, Vincent would constantly call me, which I ignored, and spam messages on my phone like ‘traitor’, ‘liar’, ‘you can’t be trusted’.”

Vincent Law:

“Mr Law also added that the frustration of the constant rejection by Amos’ crush is likely to have gotten to him and may be a factor in the whole episode as he is just a teenager and at crossroads in life.”

Amos Yee:

And another day at his house, he told me:

“‘Hi I just watched the video you made last time. The ‘My lost love’ one. I think it would be really great if you and I could get together with that girl you had a crush on, and then perhaps I can interview her.”

And by this point I was just rendered speechless.

Keep in mind, this is a youth counsellor, this is a person is that is said to have an understanding of youths. People who possess this quality of understanding, is allowed to attain a certification in Singapore, to become counsellors and psychiatrists. So now you see the reason why I did not continue my sessions at IMH.

Vincent Law:

When Mr Law was at the recent play, “Public Enemy” by W!ldRice with Amos and his mother, it struck him that Amos is just a boy who has yet grown up despite his outwardly maturity. Apart from requesting to be seated beside his mother, Amos also has his water stored at his mother’s bag, asking from the mother when he needs the water.

Amos Yee:

However the following day, during the evening, he called my number and told me that the directors of Public Enemy invited me to their play, and Vincent wanted me to accept the invitation, he also requested a meet-up with me tomorrow after I had seen IO Jason Chua. However, I wasn’t in the mood, and declined the invitation. (…)

He then shouted on the phone, ‘How dare you refuse a meeting with your bailor! This is unacceptable! I have a responsibility as a bailor! I am going to discharge myself!’

Francis Law Speaks Up

In response to this blogpost, Vincent Law’s son Francis has also spoken up. In a post on his Facebook page, Francis claimed that his father had treated Yee like a son, heading out to buy presents for him, painting positive pictures of him to the press, and being hard on him for his own good.

In response, Yee posted yet another blogpost, titled “Responding To The Molester’s Son“, in which he rebutted some of Francis’s post, while correcting his grammar at the same time. Ouch.

So which story is true? It’s hard to say at this point, especially with Yee’s pechant for stirring up chaos just when you feel that all has died down. But if his 6,000 word blogpost was just another ruse, then it’s a pretty well-written one, with believable accusations that are more than damaging to Law’s role as a youth counsellor.

This is a developing story.