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Had early dinner at Ratha Curry House in Bandar Puteri today. And the following left a bad taste in my mind (nope, not the food!):

A guy was smoking, seated next to a boy aged about 7-10 years old. OK, I can still take that, considering secondary smoking is hazardous and setting a bad example for the boy. What I saw next scared me!  There was a lady seated opposite the man, and she smoked too, two pieces of poison sticks within 15 mins or so.  And this is witnessed by the boy. I presume the man and woman was the parents (even though they were of different race) since all three came together.

Really disturbing! They both looked educated, but in reality?

mithia says:

Yes, it truly is disturbing. Let me share my experience watching a family on this subject. I was at Ikea the other day and I saw this iranian family at the doorway. Both mum and dad were smoking away and their daughter moved away and sat closer to me. Being a friendly malaysian, i started a conversation with her and to my surprise she said ‘ ..the reason why i moved away from my parents is because i dont smoke’.

Funny to some. But, to do or not to is absolutely ones choice.

Parents should definately be the ones to set good examples to their kids.

Posted on September 23rd, 2009

Viknesh Nadaraja says:

Does education warrant good conduct?
There are tests and minimum requirements for even the menial of jobs but for parenthood?

But looking from a larger perspective, is smoking a sin? Do children from non smoking families turn out to be non-smokers themselves? What are the social perspective of norms here?

Should the attack be on the cigarette companies… why should the production of cigarettes even be allowed in the first place? Does the government allow any production of drugs, cocaine and marijuana? Which kills more… drugs or cigarettes?

Why lesser evil is permitted and accepted by the government and society?

Posted on September 24th, 2009

poobalan says:

Parenthood – some learn from their own parents, added with help from media/friends/relatives/books etc. Of course common sense and maturity also plays a big role.

smoking a sin – i think “sin” is much related to religion, and since there are many people who are following “new” version of religions, or modified religion according to their need, or religionless, its not easy to classify smoking as sin. But for a Hindu, definitely a sin since smoking damages the body – considered a temple of our soul. its similar like committing suicide, albeit slowly. I think many traditional religions would highlight that doing anything that harms oneself is a sin.

i’m not sure on the stats of smokers breeding smokers or vice versa. but going on logic, children learn from the parents first. it would be harder to educate a child who had been accustomed seeing his/her parents smoking. maybe percentage of smokers coming from smoking parents are higher. Then, there’s peer pressure while growing up – another major contributor towards smoking teens and adults.

For me, smoking should be classified as a crime – its is hazardous to the people around the smokers. So, maybe smoking should be confined to designated spots or in the privacy of one’s own room.

The cigarette companies are running a business. and as long as there are customers, the business will flourish. either legally or illegally. the government must play a better role in education. parents themselves have critical role, but sad to say in cases like above, parents failed miserably.

Our govt doesn’t allow for production and use of drugs mentioned above. but which kills more? i think smoking, since it causes many health problems, directly and indirectly.

lesser evil accepted because the govt and society doesn’t care?

Posted on September 24th, 2009