Cancer Sticks at RM12 per Pack of 20s

Cigarette manufacturers in Malaysia have it good. The previous hike in the excise duties for tobacco was on October 01, 2010. And with the government desperately looking for additional sources of revenue, it has quietly increased the excise duties on tobacco by 14 percent, which incidentally, is an off-budget initiative.

In a prompt response, British American Tobacco (which holds a 63 percent share of the local ciggie market) adjusted their prices effective Monday. All of its brands (e.g. Dunhill, Kent and Peter Stuyvesant) will see at least a RM1.50 increase in price.

FYI, Dunhill, BAT’s bestselling brand is now retailed at RM12 per pack of 20s.

It is not as if smokers are not used to price increases. In June this year, the company had announced a 3 percent hike in price citing rising operating costs. In fact, smokers are the dumb ones who persist in paying for a dangerous product because they refuse to give up their cancer addiction. In the meantime, the cancer stick peddlers reap massive profits at the expense of our health and wealth. 

Who doesn’t know that smoking kills? Medical evidence has already proven that smoking kills (Doll and Peto, 2003; Sasco, et al., 2004). I wish to reiterate the point that smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world.

When supposedly intelligent adults make the decision to smoke, aren’t they expressing the blatant intention to take their own lives? And, therefore, when they smoke, is it not a brazen act to commit suicide? The only difference between smoking and the other methods you can use to kill yourself is that you die very slowly and so you will hardly notice. Until you are on your deathbed.

 
And in case you didn’t know, in Malaysia, a suicide attempt is a criminal offence. You can be charged in court under Section 309, and if convicted, you face a jail sentence of up to a year, or a fine, or both. Shouldn’t smokers – who are, in actual fact, attempting suicide – be brought under the criminal justice system?

Last evening, I was at the Agromate Toastmasters meeting – held in Unit 1001, Block E, Phileo Damansara 1 in Petaling Jaya where I was the General Evaluator. It was a good meeting – in fact, there were Toastmasters from at least seven clubs who came to lend support. I enjoyed this meeting and I will continue to help out. A good meeting and it deserves a 6 over 10.

Immediately after, I proceeded to Bandar Puteri in Puchong to attend the Puchong English Toastmasters meeting. Sunway University Toastmaster, Nawal Lyana was one of four speakers and she delivered CC speech #9. Overall, the speeches were good but the evaluations could certainly be better. A score of 5 over 10.