If your loved one is sniffing drugs, you would try your best to stop him right? Or if you have a brother having an affair with a married woman, you would probably try to talk him out of it. Or if you have a sister who are spending all her salary every month on a jobless boyfriend for the past 3 years, you would also try to get her to leave him right?

The answer probably yes to most people you ask. Why? Because when we see our loved ones do something wrong, we would want to help them. To pull them out of the hole they dug for themselves. The question is, are we really right when we think we are right? When do we cross the line from being in the best interest to being over bearing? When do giving our loved ones freedom become neglect?

I've known girls who forbids their boyfriends from smoking and drinking. Half of us here will agree with them, while the other half will say that they are being overbearing. Their boyfriends are old enough to make such decisions for themselves. I am sure there are people who forbid their s.o. from eating oily or unhealthy food. Is that being caring or overbearing? There are a lot of Singaporeans who complains that our government are too overbearing.

The thing is, everybody have different values. It will be good if our loved ones share the same values as us. But if it's different, how are we going to handle it? I am more for letting the individual make their own decisions. What we should do is to advice and make our points heard, and yet support them if they insists on having their way. To be ready to give them a helping hand when things get out of control. Either that, or leave them.