What it Means to be Free

What it Means to be Free

Since the independence of Singapore, freedom has taken on a whole new

meaning in the minds of many Singaporeans. As we recall with

misty-eyed nostalgia the fight for our national independence, we'll

wave our flags, and maybe sing a patriotic song or two in the bargain.

Just like we do every year. But patriotism has an edgier quality to it

these days than it used to. A sort of hopeful desperation creeps into

any conversation on the merits and pitfalls of a free society. It

seems almost as if we are trying to convince ourselves that we are

still the same people that we were before that day in August. And it

just doesn't seem to be working all that well.

What is freedom? Better minds than many have debated and orated and

philosophised over what 'freedom' really means. Freedom is a very

contextual word. There is personal freedom, political freedom, and

religious freedom and market freedom. A society or a government looks

at the role of freedom and then decides just how much and how little

it needs to allow or to regulate in order to keep things from falling

apart. Some rules and regulations are needed to keep absolute freedom

from turning into absolute anarchy. Some rules and laws are good. If

they keep people from tearing down my street at 50 kilometres an hour

and running over people and the animals in the process, I, too, would

be content enough to drive slower and get home in one piece even if it

were a few minutes later. I would not want people to be smoking in the

cinema, when I am watching my favourite movie and enjoying myself. I

would either have to breathe that pungent smell, or leave the cinema

and waste the money I had paid. However, a good law also allows for

exceptions based upon some circumstances. An ambulance or a police car

can exceed the speed limits for cases of emergency and if you are on

the way to the hospital with someone who is bleeding all over, you'll