This Is A Non-Smoking Area, Please.

I think I'm going to get lungs cancer very soon, suffering from second-hand smoking. Seriously. I never felt so chocked and suffocated like there's a plastic bag covering my face before. There in KL, I'm practically gasping for fresh air every moment. Let's just say, I can see more smokers there in KL than I do here in Penang. Well, try walking along the pathway between the water-fountain display and the row of food outlets on a busy Saturday afternoon and see how much the youngsters sitting along the sidewalks, clogging the entrance into Suria KLCC, smoke their way to the grave, puffing clouds of dangerous smoke into the passers'-by faces and making the air quality in KL worse than it already is. Tell me, do these hippie youngsters with baggy pants, backwards cap and heavy metal chains strapped over their neck and wrists think it's cool to destroy their God-given lungs? Might as well just use a knife and stab the chest to puncture the lungs and die a slow and painful death. I think they deserve it it saves a lot of other people's lives and the atmosphere as well.

You know, I really can't do anything if they think that inhaling toxic substances to decorate their lungs makes them look any more macho but hell, I'm not going to be responsible for such inane acts! Neither should anyone else who loves their own body! I mean, they have obviously turned the entire area into a free-smoking zone, exposing naive little children, pregnant women and even men to an unhealthy lifestyle. Endangering someone else's life is a big enough deal for me that they should be dealt with severely. KL is already, as it is, suffering the consequences from the insane development of men, with air pollution as one of the main social issues - haze, for instance. Yet, there are still these inconsiderate and uncivilized bastards people in the community roaming free with their pack of cigarettes, tearing down the little pieces of Mother Nature left in the big city. Figuratively speaking, of course. But that's just one thing. What about the impression it gives to tourists? I don't think portraying Malaysian youth wasting their time smoking below the famed Petronas Twin Towers is a good way to show a promising and healthy generation to foreigners! Do you?

Like that wasn't enough. People in KL even practices smoking in public toilets. Especially the ones in shopping malls. It could easily mislead you to thinking that you might've stepped into an underground pub with dim lights and blown bulbs where pot's on a free flow and alcohol's on the house upon entering public toilets instead of entering, well, public toilets. The stench of splattered urine stained all over the toilet bowl is horrible by itself that I sometimes need to hold my breath. Added with the chocking smoke from guys in the next cubicle or the cubicle after, enjoying their cigarette while making unimaginable splashing sounds (ahem) or disgusting fart sounds, it wouldn't be a surprise if I went breathless and possibly found blanked out on the floor against the cubicle door. Am I the only person who's affected by these? Or maybe people should really consider installing water sprinklers in toilets from now on then smokers would think twice before lighting that cigarette while they let go. Gives me some peace of mind while urinating as well.

And in KL, public smoking just isn't enough. My uncle (tai yi's husband) practices indoor smoking, which is only worse than public smoking! My, he is one heavy smoker! He practically smokes all over the house - the bathroom, kitchen, at the dining table, living room and hallways. There wasn't anything bad about my 5 days stay at her home except the part where I almost choked on smoke. Really. Her whole house was so filled with smoke that I was surprised no one rang the fire station yet. Grace told me it was normal that they all suffer from second-hand smoking and they can't do anything about it. After all, he is the master of the house. I tried escaping the smoke by locking myself in the room with Grace's laptop but it got more suffocated than I thought it would that I had to open the windows to breathe. That time, I already started coughing and my nose was beginning to itch. Not that I'm complaining but shouldn't the man be at least a little more considerate? At least for his children. Heck, dad was a former smoker and he never smoked in the house or in front of his children all his life. He did it in the balcony with the doors shut and has decided to stopped exactly a year ago.

Still, this remains as only an observation from a Penang fella'. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned or maybe I'm just not used to the culture here in the big city but either way, I'm not giving in to such intolerable cruelty and am not looking forward to bending my principles and beliefs. In short, I'm still not accepting it. Though, I' m not discriminating all smokers as dad was previously one. It's just that, smokers should really be more considerate about where they smoke. They should consider who's live they're putting in danger by their simple act of puffing a cigarette or two. Nonetheless, I strongly disapprove of young smokers. Broken backgrounds cannot be a pathetic excuse for such misdemeanor. For once, I think the education system is sufficient enough to stop them bloody teenagers from destroying their life. Peer pressure might be acceptable but it still remains as a personal choice which happens to be a really really bad one to be hooked on smoking. It really doesn't make you look and cooler, more macho, manlier or whatever reasons this teens have in mind to even pick up the first cigarette. Damn it!