Reflections on smoking, from experimentation to quitting

‘Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times.’ – Mark Twain (1835-1910); an American writer and humorist best known for his novels ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ which are considered American literary classics.

CERTAINLY, it was a good thing that I had the willpower to quit smoking decades ago.

It was during the last few weeks of our Upper Sixth days in Sibu that some of us experimented with cigarettes, partly to experience them and partly to use the smoke to drive away mosquitoes during night study in the classrooms.

We were left to our own devices without any supervision from our hostel warden, Mr Ling (now deceased), who was already advanced in age.

At that time, the most popular cigarette brand was Three Fives (555) State Express, which cost one ringgit for seven sticks and was easily affordable for us poor rural students studying in a top urban school.

It was one of the cheapest cigarettes in town, as it was the only brand sold in packs of seven sticks.

Other brands in those days were selling for prices ranging between RM2 and RM4 for a pack of twenty sticks, while the cheaper brands were selling for between RM1 and RM1.50 for twenty sticks.

My late dad smoked brands like Rough Rider (Chap Kuda), Embassy, and others. The more expensive brands included Consulate, Marlboro, Rothman, Benson and Hedges, Capstan, Players’ Gold Leaf, Camel, Kent, and many more.

My intense coughing during our first three months in the university led me to pause smoking cigarettes and eventually quit.

Weeks after quitting, I tried smoking a pipe with Erinmore Flake tobacco. Now I smoke a pipe occasionally, but I’ve changed the tobacco to Blend 11.

Over the past few years, the prices of cigarettes have been adjusted and have become more expensive, which has had some success in slowing down smoking in the country.

However, most smokers continue to contribute actively to the ongoing pollution in our atmosphere.

Now that cigarette prices are almost reaching the 20 ringgit mark, many people are unperturbed by it. Instead of quitting, they switch to cheaper brands, including illegally imported cigarettes into our country.

These cigarettes often contain high levels of nicotine, unlike legally imported ones, which have their nicotine content monitored and controlled.

It is believed that due to the high nicotine content, cheap cigarettes like LA (green, blue, or red) can be addictive. Someone very close to me has developed a preference for LA after replacing Salem Light many years ago when the price of the former increased from RM7 to RM8.60 and later to RM17.80.

Initially, LA cost RM2.50 for a pack of 20, but now its price ranges between RM3.50 and RM4.50 depending on the location.

My brother Jon, 75, who has been a smoker for half a century, has this to say: “I will only quit smoking if the price of one pack of twenty reaches the 20 ringgit mark.”

Since it hasn’t reached that price yet, I’m sure he will remain loyal to the industry for eternity. When I met him here in Kuching, he was smoking the cheap Parkway brand, which is unlikely to reach anywhere near RM10 per pack during his lifetime.

Both our parents were smokers. Dad started with nipah leaves and cheap tobacco, while Mom preferred the more expensive and imported ‘semakau sik’ (green label) rolled up in a special soft, thin white paper. In the late ‘60s, they tried planting tobacco on our plot of land at Bukit Tinggi Upper Melupa, which was about a half-hour walk from Nanga Assam Primary School (going upriver).

The project was successful and earned them some income. However, their enthusiasm didn’t last more than two years due to fluctuating success and the many relatives or friends who purchased dried tobacco leaves on credit and never paid anything at all.

When Dad decided to enforce a “cash on delivery” policy, most customers removed themselves from the list, including his two younger brothers and their spouses. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop them from smoking. Surprisingly, one of them paid his due, albeit a small amount, after two or three months.

For that, Dad allowed him to take some seedlings to start his tobacco planting, which he and his wife did with some degree of success. It was an interesting start for the remote Melupa community to engage in tobacco cultivation.

In the mid-’70s, tobacco sales in the few tuckshops around Melupa suffered a significant decline, only to revive in the later years of the ‘70s, thanks to a widespread disease affecting tobacco leaves.

Mom, who passed away at 72, never stopped smoking. Her last three requested items were coffee, sugar, and, of course, a stick of Consulate cigarettes. Although they were given to her immediately upon request, they remained untouched. That’s why we called them her ‘death wish.’ She peacefully passed away minutes later, knowing that those items were near her hospital bed.

On the other hand, Dad managed to quit smoking many months before his demise at the ripe age of 92, outliving Mom by 22 years and five of his younger siblings. As a substitute for cigarettes, his last brands being Rough Riders and Matterhorn, Dad bought sweets, especially Hacks, in bulk. He would chew them after meals and share them with his grandchildren whenever he pleased.

Neither of them lived to see cigarette prices getting very close to the 20 ringgit mark.

Regarding my current family, three members contribute significantly to the tobacco industry daily. My wish is for them to reduce the amount of money spent on cigarettes.

Just imagine, a pack of 20 cigarettes that costs RM18.60, multiplied by two for each day, amounts to a total of RM37.20 going up in smoke daily for just one smoker. Even for the cheaper brands that cost between RM4 and RM6 per pack of 20, the amount wasted is quite substantial.

An anti-smoking organisation in Malaysia states that tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals. Other statistics are readily available on the internet. I can only offer the ones I have committed to memory that may not be found elsewhere.

The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.