According to a recent report, over a billion people worldwide are smokers. Clearly it is not merely a personal habit but rather a custom or culture accepted or at least tolerated by the bulk of the population. Scientists and government officials have engaged themselves for years in the battle against smoking, but the results are not satisfactory. And with the development of civilization, a new force is emerging, which consists of mainly young people under the age of 18 . It seems cigarette smoking is unlikely to fade out from our earth.

Many of my family members are smokers, so as a passive smoker, being enveloped in the smokes, I have had the good opportunity of observing the behavior of smoking. It appears that peer pressure is one of the reasons that many adults become smokers. Offering  or sharing a cigarette  is a token of good manners, and refusal might be mistaken as being disrespectful.  In the old days when most of us were poor, the brand of cigarette affordable was the yardstick used to measure both the height of your social status and the degree of your generosity. A kind host always prepared for his guest the best brand, and a considerate guest always lit only one cigarette offered and then changed back to his own. Sometimes a pack of cigarette was displayed on the shelf for such a long time that the guests took it only for the sake of  politeness. Nowadays we have said goodbye to the era of  poverty, but some of the old traditions still hold fast.

 There is no need to enumerate the excuses smokers often find to account for their behavior. Each will come up with perfect ways to rationalize his conduct. My conclusion  is that smoking is a habit formed by social, psychological and physiological factors, which can be quitted by strong will and an acute sense of guilt. A strong will carries you onward to stay quit, and a sense of guilt sickens you and prevents you from reversion.

     I had never smoked before I came to Macau. I often secretly took pleasure in my abstinence. It was in last September that I began to smoke. There were three factors contributing to my depravity. First, as I have mentioned before, I am not averse to smoking, though it often made me angry when the smokes went into my nostrils. For years I was worrying about gaining weight, which would adversely affect my health and my appearance. Smoking, they said, helped one to slim down, which was very appealing to me.  Secondly I was in a the period of crisis. A loner in a lonely place. Temptations were everywhere. To be or not to be, that’s the rub. By joining the socialite’s circle, I thought I might change my monotonous lifestyle and got rid of my stigma as being aloof. It proved futile, for I soon became fed up with the nonsense and monkey business they were enjoying. I simply went out and turned down all invitations under a variety of pretexts, but the void needed something to fill in and smoking might be the temporary substitute. The last factor was a bit far-fetched. I have sent cigarettes back to my friends and relatives, as here the tariff is low and smokers love to try different tastes. To my surprise they complained that some of the Macau brands were unfavorable as being too acrid. So I was curious to have a try. Then smoking entered my life.

     At the beginning, the choice of the brand often baffled me as I had no idea which  flavor might suit my taste, so I bought several packs of different brand.  I would smoke a few cigarettes daily and exchanged my experience with the veterans, who were glad that I finally joined in their circle. Only within a month, I could tell the reason why my friends disliked the brands I bought for them, because they contain too much tar and produce too much smoke. Two months having passed, I began to enjoy the pleasure that smoking brought to me. The exquisitely packed box, the slender cigarette, the click of the lighter, and the inhaling and exhaling of the mysterious smoke all combined to produce an euphoric sensation spreading from my lungs outward to every cell of my body. First relaxation came, contentment ensued,  and  in the end refreshment filled the cup full. I often had fanciful ideas then. Lots of the great celebrities, like Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill  flashed  in my mind’s eye, beckoning  me to go on. I reckoned that the benefits outweighed the risks. It was unmanly to bother about health problems. So the habit was formed.

   When I traveled to Yunnan last winter, I brought  my favorite brand along with me. Surely if occasion allowing, I would take one. I met a new friend on the trip, who was from Taiwan and with whom I quickly became familiar. When he saw me smoking, he laughed at my inexperience and told me pointblank that I was a rookie. I was mortified then. Again! I met an expert who could easily see me through. My smoking at home so far remained a secret to my female friends, several of whom often lavished their praise on me for my continence, but even doing the things in one’s home might also incur the displeasure from others.

    A young Nigerian  lived in the same building where I resided , who was a computer engineer. We often met each other in the elevator, and there started our friendship. As he lived in an apartment one floor above mine, so sometimes I would invite him to attend my gathering at home, and we got to know each other better. One day he politely asked me whether I knew there was somebody smoking in the toilet. I immediately caught on what he meant. Our apartments are so poorly ventilated that one could almost tell what type of shampoo was used if someone was taking a shower. The smokes produced in my apartment would directly visit his home even though I have taken cautions to open my windows before I lit a cigarette. It was the fifth month of my smoking and they remained silent, as smoking in one’s home seemed to be a private matter and quite lawful. I promised him to locate the culprit who should have the audacity to smoke in the toilet and hurt us neighbors. I stopped smoking immediately.

The cessation of smoking proved to be a painful experience.  When I went home alone, the sight of the lovely box along with the beautiful lighter were tempting enough to lure me back, let alone the physical craving for more nicotine.  I was in a dilemma. I wanted to be a decent and kind man, but personal freedom should also be preserved as it was a hallmark of one’s individuality.  I thought up a tactic to solve the problem by smoking in the kitchen with both the fans and ventilators on, which could theoretically drive the smoke out. The method was a failure. Because smoking in a cramped space was uncomfortable that  half the  pleasure was gone, and the thought of the complaint from my friend made my newly-cultivated hobby unpleasant. Dr. Schuller, the famous pastor and host of the program of ‘ The Hour of Power’, helped  me  to build up my confidence after I have watched him lecturing on positive thinking. The complaint from my neighbor is nothing less than a call to awaken me to do what I have been preaching for. To give is more rewarding than to take.  My mind made up, my journey seemed not to be that  hard as many experts have claimed.  Maybe my addiction to nicotine  was not that strong like those of the veterans and I really didn’t experience much affliction from withdrawal syndromes.

   Now over three months have passed, I am confident that I have won the battle. I knew many smokers have experienced setbacks and each failure only made the next attempt more difficult. I sincerely feel sorry for them, but is it really that difficult for the veterans to quit? From my observations, the answer is no. My father quitted within one year after his retirement after he consumed every single cigarette sent to him by his former friends; my uncle quitted voluntarily after suffering from a heart attack. My father quitted for the reason of frugality, my uncle for health. Successful stories are everywhere. We can achieve our goal if we really want to.