Freedom

Freedom is the ability to act without restraint.

In the context of internal control, freedom is also known as self-determination, individual sovereignty, or autonomy. The protection of interpersonal freedom can be the object of a social and political investigation, while the metaphysical foundation of inner freedom is a philosophical and psychological question. Both forms of freedom come together in each individual as the internal and external values mesh together in a dynamic compromise and power struggle; the society fighting for power in defining the values of individuals and the individual fighting for societal acceptance and respect in establishing one's own values in it. Spiritually, freedom encompasses the peaceful acceptance of reality. The theological question of freedom generally focuses on reconciling the experience or reality of inner freedom with the omnipotence of the divine.

“We hold in our hands, the most precious gift of all: Freedom. The freedom to express our art. Our love. The freedom to be who we want to be. We are not going to give that freedom away and no one shall take it from us!" This was said by someone.

Oh how I craved to have total freedom to do the things that I want without a care back when I was younger. it did not happen as I have parents who were so set in conforming to society's values and not eager to breach any of the strict Asian values for the sake of making their daughter happy. Oh how sad I was way back then to grow up in such a household!

Not everyone have freedom like the children nowadays. Now, children seem to breeze through life without a care. Most of them have everything provided to them from the smallest hand phone to the latest laptop at the tender age of 10 on the average. The new age parents do not care what their kids were up to as long as they achieve good grades in school. It's more like living on a bargain. As long as they perform in school, the kids can have anything they want.

It was not like that with me. I live in constant reprimand from parents for doing something that was considered unladylike like running around and getting myself dirty to shouting too loud. When I was young, I could sense that my parents were really over protective and stop me from doing almost everything! I felt shackled. Really like living in a prison.

I only had my freedom when I was 19, when they sent me abroad to London. Somewhere far away from all the constant nagging from my parents. Imagine living free away from home with no parents saying that I cannot do this, I cannot do that. It's like entering God's heaven. I was so happy, like a bird flying off from the nest for the 1st time or a bird being let off from a cage. I can taste freedom everywhere. I ate it, I drank it, I lived on it. I truly had a nice time there. I worked, studied and joined the tour to Italy and to other places. For a chinese educated girl, I must say I was very daring. I said that because I was daring enough to join the tour where all of them are whites and strangers to me, to exploring new places of interest, eating new things that I had never heard off and drinking concoctions of weird colors that tasted so awful it turned my stomach seconds after i drank them!

Unfortunately, just after two years of freedom there, I was forced to come back to Malaysia…or rather tricked to come back…..the simple reasons being that I HAD TOO MUCH FREEDOM over there and my parents had enough of it!

Come to think of it, I think parents should give some freedom or breathing space to their children. We cannot control them all the time as it will only make them more rebelious. I can still remember when my children were young, how I tried to stop them doing this and that, just like my parents. Yes I know, just like the saying "the accorn doesn't fall far away from the tree", I who hated the way my parents used to be over protective, ended up just like them. But as I grew into a matured women, I realised my mistakes but it was too late. By then, my children hated the way I treated them and had withdrawn away from me and how they rebeled.

The children nowadays are more more intellegent than the older generations. We must encourage our children to enjoy their freedom despite our own fears. Risks will always be there no matter what, and, with our guidance, children will learn which activities are worth the injuries and which are not. Only experience will teach us where we draw that line with our own children. Always remember that the more experiences the children encountered, the better they will be to face the tough world out there!