He has a neighbour who lives in this block. He smokes from 11pm to 12am every day. My uncle usually sleeps at 10am. My uncle cannot stand the smell of the cigarettes, he went to the corridor and ask him why he smokes at the corridor and asked him why he smokes at the corridor. The neighbour told him that he cannot smoke in the house as his mother live inside. My uncle wanted him to stop smoking as smoking is bad for his health.
My uncle asks him now how much a packet of cigarettes cost. My uncle then ask him how many packets do he smoke a day. He answered three. “Doesn’t it cost a lot” My uncle said. The neighbour nodded his head. My uncle then persuaded him to stop smoking as it doesn’t only cost a lot of money, it also waste a lot of time. My uncle then told him then smoking one cigarette need an estimated time of six minutes. As one packet had twenty cigarettes on packet need two hours to finish. Three packets therefore need six hours.
He also told the neighbour that he can save a lot of money by not buying cigarettes. He can use the money that he saves to travel around the workld as he likes travelling. The neighbour think what he said is correct so he decided to stop smoking. After a few months, the neighbour came to his house and told him that he had given up smoking. He quit smoking at the age of fifty two years old.
Another story
Before he had moved here, he also had a neighbour who also smokes. The neighbour has a family. He worked from dawn to dust. This makes him no time to spend with his family. His wife told him to stop smoking. Therefore, his wife approached my uncle to help her. One particular day, his husband went to my uncle’s house. He was rich as the government had raised the price of the packet of cigarettes. My uncle then told him as cigarettes are expensive, why don’t he don’t buy it. The husband told him that if he doesn’t smoke he can’t concentrate while working.
My uncle said that if he never smokes, he could spend more time with his children and wife. His husband doesn’t understand so he asks him why. My uncle then explain to him that as he work two different jobs-on job eight hours and the other job three hours. He ears six dollars an hour. For the last three hours that he works is for the two packets of cigarettes. If he did not smoke, he would return home three hours earlier. He thinks that what my uncle said was correct. Therefore, he gave up smoking at the age of 48.
Written By: Han Hong Tuck
(Mayflower Secondary School/Secondary 1 A)
