• Who?

Neo Gim Huah

• What?

Arrested and sentenced to three weeks in jail

• When?

Arrested on 12 April, 2017 and his court proceedings on May 23,2017

• Where?

State court

• How?

On April 11, 2017 , Neo Gim Huah slapped Amos Yee ,who had been walking towards the State Court for a hearing.

• Why?

He had decided to take matters into his own hands and teach Yee a lesson.

I feel that ‘why’ and ‘what’ is the most important as it provides the reason for Neo Gim Huah’s arrest and the consequences of trying to take justice into your own hands.

The story is newsworthy as it happened in Singapore and hence, fulfils the criteria of Proximity. Furthermore, Amos Yee is an infamous teen blogger who was despised by most of Singapore for his degrading and insensitive comments on the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. As such, the story also fulfils the criteria of Eminence and Prominence. Another news criteria that the story displays is Action. Neo Gim Huah had publicly and intentionally harmed Amos Yee so as to “teach him a lesson”.

Neo Gim Huah had intentionally slapped Amos Yee as the latter was making his way towards the State court for his hearing. He had done so in front of journalists and the public, so that “the incident would gain maximum publicity” as stated by District Judge Ronald Gwee. The clips and photos taken were then spread on social media and gained a lot of attention

The story is prominent as it informs the public that justice is best served by the court and that they should avoid taking justice into their own hands. Regardless of whether an infamous person like Amos Yee deserved it or not, harming someone intentionally would warrant a punishment. This information is important to act as it acts as a deterrence against people trying to serve their own brand of justice.