(All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy! So today's posting is a 'time-out'!)
I came from a generation that idolizes cigarette smokers! Our on-screen heroes were all great smokers; James Dean, John Wayne, Gary Cooper etc., etc. They light-up all the time and their last requests before 'their end' were always a 'puff!" The cigarette companies were free to place all sorts of advertisements, everywhere, anywhere and anytime! There were no "TAK NAK!" advertisements around then, and the Government does not discourage smoking! After all cigarettes or rather the tax on tobacco is a good source of income for the Government.
I started smoking in my teens, just like a lot of my friends back in the 60's! Cigarettes were cheap and everybody smoke. Of course my parents do not know that I smoke, although I'm very sure my dear father suspected it, just like I suspected my two boys when they were teenagers!
Before I went to Jakarta in January 1970, I was a 'Dunhill' smoker but it costs almost 200% more on the Indonesian black market! On the 'family' scholarship that I depended on in Jakarta, spending S$3.00 on a pack of cigarettes was a no no! (The exchange rate was RM1.00 = S$1.00 = Rp 123/- then.) Instead of quiting, I searched for alternatives! After trying several different make, I eventually chosed Gudang Garam which costs a paltry Rp45/- or about 30 sen for a 10-stick pack!
When I returned to Singapore and eventually settled in Malaysia, I sticked to 'my' brand. I was a heavy smoker and always share my packs with my friends but, on average, I personally take 20 sticks a day.
In 2000, I had a false alarm! Irregular heart beat! My doctor, who is also a smoker, advised me to quit or change to a milder brand or at least a filtered version of the same brand. I took his advice and changed to the filtered type of Gudang Garam which should also be milder!
Around this time, I started attending Arabic Language classes and also Quranic Studies. My circle of friends were mostly retirees and 90% were the gentler sex and I was the ONLY smoker in my class. Taking time out for a cigarette was a lonesome affair! My friends don't have ashtrays at home so I have to smoke outside the house when I visit them at home!
One day, I suddenly realized that smoking takes up a lot of my time! Each stick of Gudang Garam costs me an average of 10 minutes. 20 sticks equals to 200 minutes. Therefore, I lose an average of 3 hrs a day to smoking! I went cold-turkey and quit!
When my two boys heard that I had finally quit, they too quit! Otherwise, they will never be able to stop their old father blabbering continuously of their bad habit! My youngest daughter, who constantly put up signs everywhere in the house for us to stop smoking, was the happiest for the smoke-free environment!
So here I'm now in my sixth year of a cigarette-free life. Well... my friends. When are you going to quit?
I came from a generation that idolizes cigarette smokers! Our on-screen heroes were all great smokers; James Dean, John Wayne, Gary Cooper etc., etc. They light-up all the time and their last requests before 'their end' were always a 'puff!" The cigarette companies were free to place all sorts of advertisements, everywhere, anywhere and anytime! There were no "TAK NAK!" advertisements around then, and the Government does not discourage smoking! After all cigarettes or rather the tax on tobacco is a good source of income for the Government.
I started smoking in my teens, just like a lot of my friends back in the 60's! Cigarettes were cheap and everybody smoke. Of course my parents do not know that I smoke, although I'm very sure my dear father suspected it, just like I suspected my two boys when they were teenagers!
Before I went to Jakarta in January 1970, I was a 'Dunhill' smoker but it costs almost 200% more on the Indonesian black market! On the 'family' scholarship that I depended on in Jakarta, spending S$3.00 on a pack of cigarettes was a no no! (The exchange rate was RM1.00 = S$1.00 = Rp 123/- then.) Instead of quiting, I searched for alternatives! After trying several different make, I eventually chosed Gudang Garam which costs a paltry Rp45/- or about 30 sen for a 10-stick pack!
When I returned to Singapore and eventually settled in Malaysia, I sticked to 'my' brand. I was a heavy smoker and always share my packs with my friends but, on average, I personally take 20 sticks a day.
In 2000, I had a false alarm! Irregular heart beat! My doctor, who is also a smoker, advised me to quit or change to a milder brand or at least a filtered version of the same brand. I took his advice and changed to the filtered type of Gudang Garam which should also be milder!
Around this time, I started attending Arabic Language classes and also Quranic Studies. My circle of friends were mostly retirees and 90% were the gentler sex and I was the ONLY smoker in my class. Taking time out for a cigarette was a lonesome affair! My friends don't have ashtrays at home so I have to smoke outside the house when I visit them at home!
One day, I suddenly realized that smoking takes up a lot of my time! Each stick of Gudang Garam costs me an average of 10 minutes. 20 sticks equals to 200 minutes. Therefore, I lose an average of 3 hrs a day to smoking! I went cold-turkey and quit!
When my two boys heard that I had finally quit, they too quit! Otherwise, they will never be able to stop their old father blabbering continuously of their bad habit! My youngest daughter, who constantly put up signs everywhere in the house for us to stop smoking, was the happiest for the smoke-free environment!
So here I'm now in my sixth year of a cigarette-free life. Well... my friends. When are you going to quit?
1 comment:
Very good story ideed.
Hope it serve as a lesson to the youngster
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