MyBo!

Singapore will soon extend its smoking ban in more public places like pubs, clubs and food stalls. Already my smokers friends are complaining about this ban and Singapore’s aggressive anti-smoking campaign. To them I say, why don’t you try to quit smoking?

Cigarettes are expensive, and smoking probably causes lung cancer, COPD, impotence..yada yada. I know it’s tough to kick the smoking habit but I believe if you have the will to quit, you cannot not quit smoking.

My dad smokes, my mum smokes. My 16 years old brother swear he’ll start smoking when he turns 18. My maid smokes. They offer me cigarettes now and then, but I turn them down because I stopped smoking about a year ago.

My dad says I’m stupid to quit because to him cigarettes are gifts from heaven. He has a theory that he and I will never get lung cancer since our family and relatives and ancestors did not have cancer. We’ve good genes, he says.

I agree I’ve good genes and highly likely I won’t die from lung cancer. Good genes or not, I quit smoking because cigarettes are expensive and my girlfriend hates the cigarettes stench on me. When I smoke, I sleep alone.

After ten years of smoking and two relapse, I finally quit for good. I went cold turkey. For three days I suffered from withdrawal effects of smoking. But I find support in my girlfriend. She has a unique way to take my mind off smoking. Whenever I crave a cigarette she’ll hug me and do things to me that I shall not say.

Going cold turkey is tough. Quit-smoking aids like nicotine patches and gums, meditation, or therapy might help. But nothing beats the will. If you have the will to quit smoking, you shall.