I applaud the recently announced move to try to curb smoking (Budget 2023: Smokers to pay more for all tobacco products as 15% tax hike kicks in, Feb 14).

This hard approach may, however, cause resentment among smokers, who may think that the Government is milking them to raise $100 million in additional revenue a year.

Smokers will quit if they are personally convinced that the habit is harmful. This requires greater public awareness, especially about the harm that second-hand smoke causes to their loved ones.

I am 50 and was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour, along with cancer in my lungs, spine, bone and liver.

I have always been healthy. In the past three or four years, I was running two or three times a week, for about 30 minutes each time. And I have never smoked in my life.

My oncologist said I match the profile of a typical second-hand smoke victim – my parents and two older brothers all smoked, and I lived with them till I was 30. I got lung cancer that spread to my brain and body.

My illness caught my smoker friends’ attention, and made them consider quitting the habit. I don’t want my friends to say: “Hee, get well soon.” I’d rather hear: “Hee, I’ve quit smoking.”

Please use both the carrot and the stick to curb smoking.

Hee Ching Long