Their intentions were noble enough – smoking was harming the health of many Malaysians and it had to be stopped in its tracks.

Yet, fast forward to 2022 and… Malaysians are still smoking like chimneys, even in an age where information about the harmful effects of smoking is freely available.

According to 2020 data from the World Health Organisation, more than 20% of Malaysians aged 15 years and older, smoke. Was that anti-smoking campaign all for naught?

For Dr Murallitharan Munisamy, National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) managing director, loosening the grip tobacco has over the country is important.

The NCSM is a local non-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness about cancer and was established in 1966.

Included in its many services is a Quit Smoking Clinic that helps those addicted to smoking, kick the habit. For periods of up to six months, patients receive specialist care from experienced cessation therapists who help them overcome their addiction.

Patients can sign up for the clinics either by contacting NCSM or simply by walking into its Kuala Lumpur office.

Rather impressively, a majority of patients will never have to fork out a sen for this, as most consultations and therapies are subsidised by NCSM itself.

In addition, plans are underway to provide online and virtual help to folks unable to attend the clinic in person.

The Quit Smoking clinic is just one small act of resistance against the scourge of cigarette smoking, and Murallitharan said that the battle is far from over.

“Malaysians are very bad at taking advice. Across the board, we have seen very poor uptake from Malaysian society when it comes to health messaging.”

While societies in developed countries are more receptive to health advice, Malaysians are more likely to ignore everything, he said.

To make things worse, the tobacco industry, he said, often pushes subliminal advertising to influence consumers. “Soft advertising is very powerful and it continues to be prevalent in Malaysia.”

For every anti-smoking advertisement health workers produce, the multi-billion-dollar industry can easily produce hundreds of advertisements to counter it.

As it stands, said Murallitharan, it is hard for anti-smoking campaigners to compete with the vast resources possessed by the tobacco industry. “Money wins, unfortunately!”

The Covid-19 pandemic and the mounting stress caused by the ensuing lockdowns, he said, also led many to puff their lives away.

“People couldn’t go to their usual mamak hangouts to have a cigarette or two,” he said. “Instead, cigarettes were delivered straight to their home.”

This ease of access, in turn, caused those who smoked one or two cigarettes daily to smoke dozens in a single day out of boredom.

On a government proposal to ban Malaysians born from 2005 and above from smoking, Murallitharan said that it would be a step in the right direction.

While there will always be people willing to break the law, he opined that the benefits of such a law outweighs its downsides.

“If there’s no legal framework that encourages people to stop smoking, there’s never going to be the ability to stop future generations from smoking.”

He also criticised the belief that vaping is safer than cigarette smoking, arguing that the health effects of both are equally damaging.

“In terms of cancer risk, there is no reduction if you vape. Choosing between smoking and vaping is like choosing between getting run over by a lorry or falling off a building. The results are the same.”

Murallitharan added that those pushing the vaping habit oftentimes are the same people pushing the smoking habit. “You are just switching one addiction for another.”

He also said Malaysian authorities ought to act decisively against the vaping industry, following the footsteps of other Asean countries.

There is still hope for Malaysia though. Murallitharan pointed out that young Malaysians are more health-conscious than previous generations. With young people more likely to eat and live healthily, he hopes that today’s youth will likewise abstain from smoking.

For Malaysia to win the war against cigarette smoking, more has to be done than to just “work together”, said Murallitharan.

“What we really need is strong community pushback. In high-income countries, it is highly unusual to take out a cigarette and smoke in public. They will clamp down on you like a pile of bricks.

“There must be community policing, making it abnormal for people to smoke. That’s one way to get people to make a genuine change.”

Put it out before it puts you out. Quit smoking today by contacting the NCSM at [email protected] or by calling +603 2630 6670.