In this Chinese New Year, I learned something new: my nine-year-old cousin hates dogs. The first thing she did when we arrived at Auntie Mei’s house was to climb up the sofa so the dogs wouldn’t lick her.

She would scream and scream when the three dogs ran around the living room, and we would all laugh and make fun of her. But she also realised in this New Year that not all dogs bite, and that she secretly finds them cute.

I know this because she sends her friends Chinese New Year messages with cute dog pictures in them. She also wears her red New Year clothes with a dog face on it. She also watched Namewee’s 'Like a Dog' video on YouTube.

Because she coexists with what she hates.

Just because you don’t like it

And that co-existence is the underlying philosophy of freedom of expression. Because freedom, as George Orwell once wrote, is the right for someone to express something, even if it’s something we hate.

This is an important concept for my cousin to learn at nine years old. No one should stop doing what they want to do just because you don’t like it.

Just because she doesn’t drink alcohol, it doesn’t mean the uncles who visit us shouldn’t drink. Just because she thinks playing blackjack is immoral, it doesn’t mean that our relatives are banned from gambling during Chinese New Year. Just because she doesn’t like dogs doesn’t mean that Auntie Mei can’t rear three of them...