Yam Ah Mee top choice of youths
Story and photos by Clara Lock
He might have shot to unlikely fame announcing last year’s General Election results, but Mr Yam Ah Mee defeated his opponents at polls of a very different nature last night.
Mr Yam bagged top spot in the “Best OMG! Moment” category at the M:idea Youth Choice awards and in doing so, imprinted his catchphrase ‘Pursuant to Section 49’ securely in popular culture.
The Returning Officer for the 2011 General Elections became a national icon with his deadpan recitation of the election results, which quickly spawned a club mix video that has since received over half a million views on Youtube.
But the unaffected Mr Yam, who is also the Chief Executive Director of the People’s Association, played down his relatively newfound fame. “To be honest (the award) comes as a real surprise. During my time as the Returning Officer, I was just trying to organise the elections and make sure they ran smoothly,” he told reporters on the red carpet outside Zouk.
Mr Yam gamely recited his signature passage from the Parliamentary Elections Act, which he had saved on his iPhone, at the behest of the red carpet emcees, and was met with cheers from a delighted crowd.
Celebrities Felicia Chin, Irene Ang and Nat Ho also graced the event.
Ms Chin, who won the ‘Hottest Female Personality I’d Like To Date’ category, joked during her thank you speech that ‘it’s funny because I’m not dating anybody right now,’ which resulted in a barrage of eager offers from the audience and members of her fan club, Felicity.
On which of the other nominees in the ‘Hottest Male Personality I’d Like To Take Home’ category he thought should win, Nat Ho had this to say: “I wouldn’t want to take any of them home. They’re all my friends anyway, so we’d probably just go play soccer or something.”
The M:idea Youth Choice Awards, now in its third year, is organized by students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film & Media Studies. The month-long voting process garnered 91,000 votes, which determined the eventual winners.
