Leave us smokers alone
Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 11:00AM Andrew Sullivan reminded me of something I have been meaning to write about for ages, but never got around to, while referencing Ezra Klein's own post comparing differences in perspectives towards obesity and poverty:
Cigarettes too. I know they're awful. But I find the puritanism and bossiness around them curiously blind to the fact that for many people in rough times and rough places, they are one of life's pleasures. For people with many pleasures, quitting is tough but won't really affect their quality of life. For those with very few, it's one more assault they could do without. Leave people alone.
The health effects of smoking are well-documented; it is an inescapable part of the message our government tries to drive into us with pictures of bloody and dead foetuses and various cancers imprinted on every pack of cigarettes. Some would argue that we have grown numb to it, but we really haven't; we merely developed a natural instinct to ignore it, that's all.
Every smoker is under no illusion of the possible health risks of smoking. It is a conscious choice to smoke in Singapore. The price of a pack of cigarettes here is about S$10, inflated by the high taxes levied by the government on cigarettes; while it is not cheap, cigarettes are not luxury goods. They are, as Sullivan wrote, one of life's few affordable pleasures for those who face bigger problems.
As a minority demographic, smokers in Singapore pay high taxes for their pleasure, and face strict restrictions on where we can smoke. Only 10% of floor space are allowed to be designated as "Smoking Areas" in F&B outlets, and none of that area can be indoors or covered space. If you need proof that smoking is a preferred and affordable "life pleasure" of the poor, just visit a local coffeeshop. You will notice the smoking area being noticeably more occupied than the other areas. Draw your own conclusions.
All that smokers like me are asking for is that you respect that little disgusting pleasure we have and leave us alone with your health lectures and various forms of moralising. We get it. We know the mantra like the back of our hand. Now excuse me while I go have a cigarette.
(Hat-tip: @dailydish and @noctalis)
Reader Comments (7)
You get a cookie.
Cookie #2 for you.
cookies make u fat.
But they're oh so good.
but if you eat a cookie, you don't make people around you obese
@tarred:
For that, I will share my cookies with you.
If the governments all go after smoking for the reasons being that they are not healthy, then there is absolutely no reason why so much emphasis shouldn't be placed on obesity as well. After all obesity leads to heart failure, numerous cancers, as well as other diseases. Now even though smoking is not healthy to those around you, its your choice to walk away from a smoker.