Smoking.... again

I wrote two posts (here and here) on the recent enforcement of the 2005 Tobacco Act, which meant, among other things, smoking in public places are now prohibited. Both posts attracted comments which basically could not agree with my opinions, as well the government's move to ban smoking. On top of that, there have been numerous letters to the newspapers on this subject, again disagreeing with the smoking ban.

One person left a comment that the rules were made by people who earned more and thus would not feel the pinch from slowing of business as smokers shy away from restaurants. Another commented that as one gets more educated, the narrower his/her mind gets. It was probably directed to the many professionals who were involved to enforce this Tobacco Act.

I find it incredulous that these comments and letters were wrote 'in support' of smokers, who felt that their apparent 'rights' to smoke had been violated. I shook my head in disbelief as I read the comments and letters, as I felt that the gravity of smoking to smokers and no-smokers alike were not fully understood. It goes beyond economic matter. One's health is not something that can be measured by money. The government is enforcing the Tobacco Act not to 'kill' businesses in Brunei; rather it was trying not to kill its citizen. Yes, there are other causes of death in Brunei; other diseases and traffic accident kill. But the government is doing its best to reduce death caused by non-smoking related causes.

According to the Health Information Booklet 2006, issued by Brunei's Ministry of Health, cancer, heart-related diseases, bronchitis and asthma are among the top six causes of death in Brunei in 2006. Trachea, bronchus and lung cancers were the most common cause of death among the cancer patients. The diseases mentioned are known to be caused by smoking. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Health, more than 40,000 out of Brunei's population of almost 400,000 (in 2006) are smokers. That is a staggering 10 percent of Brunei's population! An unbelivable 17.5 percent of Brunei's 15 year-old and above are smokers.

In today's newspaper, the author of the letter pointed out that non-smokers were also paying customers at restaurants and they need to be paid more attention as there were more non-smokers than smokers. They would rather see the restaurants to improve the quality of food and its services. I could not agree more.

If you're still not convinced, go here for the effects of smoking to our health.