I REFER to the letter by Keshvinder Singh “Have consideration for smokers” (The Star, June 24).
For someone from the non-smoking community defending smokers, it is like a poetry in harmony balancing reality and fantasy.
Yes, the rights of adult smokers have long been violated, suppressed and even unfairly frowned upon. Punitive measures meted out on smokers are sometimes unthinkable and do not reflect the rules of fairness.
Smokers have long been passive and mindful of every conceivable controversy non-smokers harp on in defence of their so called aggrieved protected rights.
Being subjected to the ever increasing ridiculous excise tax, smokers feel that this short-end of the stick bargain does not reflect equitable treatments as a deserving party in the society.
Yet authorities find justifications in ignoring the plea made by smokers and push further their cause by way of gazetting more smoke-free zones in the name of health protection.
It is a common fallacy to equate secondary smoke from cigarettes as the cause of an illness that until now merits further conclusive findings.
Pollution from other sources like exhaust fumes, factory smoke emissions, chemical spray for agriculture and industry and rampant open burning are some of the actual culprits that also contribute tens of thousand times the level of toxin when compared to the innocuous 10 sticks of ciggies in a room at any given time.
People crossing busy roads in town or those sitting to enjoy their meal at an open environment like the open food court inhale obnoxious gas far exceeding the level that the non-smokers always perceive as safe when compared to the so-called offensive cigarette smoke.
The demand for more laws to limit the rights of smokers by making it illegal to smoke just about anywhere makes living unimpressive and without zest.
Like drinking and the old pro-
fession, smoking is a self-encouraged activity that has become the preferred choice of many individuals. Thus its proliferation is impossible to contain and restrain.
So, where do we go from here – limit or go on an all-out war on just about anything or on activities that are different from our idiosyncrasies.
As it is, life is short and the little luxury that humans partake while passing through makes life worth living.
ZURIN HANANI
Klang
