Why Lee Kuan Yew Stopped Smoking in his 30s?
Visionary? Authoritarian? Model for the West? Lee Kuan Yew, the long-time leader of Singapore, has been called all these things, and more. The ex-Prime Minister of Singapore is outspoken in many ways, giving his opinions about anything and everything. But he rarely talked about his personal life except in his memoirs. Naturally, I read with great interests his addiction to smoking when he was in his 30’s.
According to Channel News Asia:
On his health, the Minister Mentor admitted that he used to be a heavy smoker and drinker, when he was in his 30s.
But smoking caused him to lose his voice and that prompted him to quit.
“I was about 34 (years old), we were competing in elections and I was very fond of drinking beer and smoking. After the election campaign, in the town memorial hall (we had won the city-council election campaign), I couldn’t thank my voters because I had lost my voice.”
That was in 1957. During political campaign, Lee Kuan Yew would puff 10 cigarettes on stage before each campaign speech, watching people, sensing the mood.
“Three speeches a night, plenty of cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was gone.”
But true to his forceful nature, he fought each brush with mortality. He quit smoking, forever.
I just wonder how this formidable leader did it. It would be really interesting to know. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is one of the very few people who said he wanted to quit and succeeded doing so overnight.
For other smokers, they will usually rely on one or a combination of stop smoking aids from nicotine patch, herbal treatments and hypnotherapy. Why? All smokers don’t want to have painful withdrawal syndromes accompanying them in the journey to stop smoking and thus many will rather opt for a painless methodology. I wouldn’t blame them, would you?
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