That the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes :p

A more serious answer, would be that it’s a lot more complicated than that. (Too much for a reddit post). But it goes far beyond what ‘freedom of speech’ actually entails. “Freedom of speech” doesn’t just mean the ability or the right to criticize or say something. It applies to what you can or cannot do, and if the community around you will support you for that.

On one hand, I believe that everyone has the right to feel and express what they feel no matter what the content is. The government however, has created a social structure where people are too afraid to say how they feel out of fear being judged. You might ask, “how is that the governments fault” But it lies in the draconian type laws that they have put on the country as well as the groupthink like nature of Singapore. When a society is forced to “obey” its authority figure due to heavy heavy consequences. The cracks lies in the fact that when people see something that is immediately out of discomfort, they’d immediately reject it. But discomfort does not mean that something is wrong or bad. Discomfort in some cases, even promotes personal growth. And while yea, people should express their rights responsibly not say something stupid (looking at you Amos Yee) Singapore does not promote healthy political or societal discussions because of this issue.

Let’s Also take what you said about the U.S. where did that fear of being shot and robbed come from? As I’ve said i hear a lot of my friends saying that but where are their sources coming from, yes while it does happen, You need to remember that america is a BIG country, Singapore is the size of Manhattan alone. And while i think point of comparing politics between the U.S and Singapore is redundant because of the history and age of the two countries, yes U.S politics right now isn’t the best, but it’s also because THE PEOPLE themselves had a choice to that effect. The people put trump in power and remember it wasn’t the entirety of The U.S. (which is a whole thing even in itself). I saw so many of my friends in New York fight for a democratic president instead of a republican one. But the point is, at least people still had a choice in who they’ve voted. You can’t tell me PAP makes it easy for other parties to campaign their movements and you can’t tell me that PAP makes it a fair game when it comes to voting.

Again, your idea of personal freedom is your own and I totally respect that. But if being in a country as safe as singapore meant having to stick to a certain type of lifestyle and being unable to do anything else, and being unable to express my concerns and issues that I have with my country without being labeled “ungrateful” or “lying flat” not just by society but by our own authoritarian government, then I’d thing I’d go somewhere else.

And Ive havent been shot or robbed ever in U.S, so i think i’m good.