Well-known political activist "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung has been elected a legislative Councilor after receiving over 60,000 votes in New Territories East in Sunday's Legco Election. Ex-famous radio commentator Albert Cheung was also given a place to sit in the legislative council. This shows the preference of the general public to pick someone who can give pressure to the government. Have you shown your support to these candidates by giving them a vote?

Good morning Principal, teachers, and fellow schoolmates. I am Sonia Chan, a student of S.7A. On behalf of my class, I am going to present a short talk, “What is freedom?” It is the state of being free, independence. In other words, it is the right and ability to do or say whatever we like without getting others’ consent. It doesn’t sound too impressive or exciting, unless you’ve lost it or never had it.

Thankfully, as a Hong Konger, I feel so proud that Hong Kong is a “free city”. We have freedom in almost every single aspect of our lives ---- freedom of speech, freedom of abode, freedom of trade, freedom of vote and freedom of demonstration, etc. Unlike our motherland, China, we have a lot more freedom. Comparatively, we are more fortunate than those in China although we are not always aware of it. Freedom is what we all value and treasure. However, the situation in Hong Kong seems to have been worsening. The proposed establishment of the Article 23 in the Basic Law in 2003 was an example. Earlier this year, the ICAC went to search and check the files and date of Sing Tao Daily and the other newspaper companies. This act led to widespread discussion and resentment from the general public. Many people argued that it was contradictory to the non-intervention on the freedom of press. Some also suspected that the offing-mic of the famous radio commentators, Albert Cheung, Wong Yuk Man and Alan Li, was also relating to the intention of the Chinese government to curb the freedom of speech in Hong Kong. Hong Kong citizens are more and more alerted by the alarm of the reducing freedom imposed by the government. We all believe that all these government acts are attempting to minimize our freedom.

How can we keep the government from binding us with its actions and decisions? The best way is to put the government in the hands of the people. A democratic system for electing officials is more effective. That’s why it is so important for us to vote for appropriate candidates to represent us. The election held three days ago was a success. It demonstrated Hong Kong citizens’ interest in electing our preferred legislative counselors. We were taking advantage of our freedom of voting. Besides, in order to show our disillusion, we can write to the paper to criticize the inappropriate acts of the government. Other mass actions can also be taken to show our strength and unity. The best examples were the demonstrations held on July 1 2003 and 2004. Demonstration by 500,000 people, opposition the establishment of Article 23 in the Basic Law and other government actions. Why should we, the Hong Konger, demonstrate under over 30 degrees and keep saying slogans hysterically under the hot sun? The only reason is for the sake of freedom, I really share their views. How ridiculous the article is! It is not uncommon to hear the general public criticizing the government about their over-control on citizen’s freedom.

However, many of us have misinterpreted the word ‘freedom’. We should never forget one thing, which is “we can enjoy our freedom only when we are willing to fulfill our obligation.” As students, we should stick to this rule. Remember our discipline mistress, Miss Susan Luk, always puts in our mind, “Freedom makes sense only with self-discipline!” That’s why we have to keep quiet and queue up systematically before we can be dismissed after the assembly.

Freedom comes through knowledge. It also comes from abilities. It is crystal clear that a liberal government needs educated constituents to give them freedom in order to make it work. Knowledge and understanding are the name of the game. Therefore, we have the responsibility to slave for freedom. We should always equip ourselves in order to build up a promising future for our living place, Hong Kong!

Thank You.