Tributes go to my teachers who strive very hard to take me to where I am today. As we celebrate Teachers Day today we do not forget the contributions teachers made to the progress of  a nation as well as to our own achievement as individuals.

When I first started to go school (it was just a year after Malaya achieved its Independence),  situations then were obviously far different from the present time. Even during the sixties when I was in secondary school and later in the seventies, when I went to the university, situations were very different from what it is today. Everything was marked by inadequacies and shortcomings, from classrooms to textbooks, and from library and to all other facilities. But it was the teachers' drive, strong will, and their commitment to teach and to educate their students that have made what most of us are today - some are now holding responsible positions and in leadership role in respective fields or professions. Yes, it is both the patience and the passion in the teachers that have brought about these changes in our social landscape.

Today after having served the Malaysian government for thirty one years, both at home and abroad, and retired from the job, there is somewhat a call of duty for me to contribute in a small way to the field of education. I actually wanted to pursue my career in teaching when I was still in school, but situations did not seem to favor me to join the academic world because the pull of the excitements in the field was far greater than teaching. Looking back, however, I have no regret as the experience I had acquired over the years in the field of public relations, communication and public diplomacy are indeed very useful because I am now able to relate convincingly to the real happenings in my lectures and presentations that I give my students today.

It has been almost two years at IIUM now and I enjoy myself being a teacher or a lecturer. Before assuming full-time teaching at IIUM,  I have had the opportunity to teach at the National Institute of Public Administration, the IKRAM Training and Infrastructural Development Institute, and UiTM and all these experiences in teaching and training gave me the added confidence.

Amidst the new setting, particularly the knowledge environment (the garden of knowledge and virtues) teaching young people give me renewed energy and a vision to pursue. I admit, this is a paying-back time where I should share and contribute my knowledge and experience to the new generation who will soon replace the old generation which is slowly fading away. The present younger set of graduates needs guidance and mentoring to enable them to go out into the real world and to survive the new challenges that are abound. They need all the motivation and the inspiration to move on. If what I have learned from my teachers have helped me to be where I am today,  it is definitely my hope to see my students benefit from my teaching today in the years ahead!!!

Early last month I wrote in my Facebook drawing attention to the readers on the report of the recent move to act on smokers. I quote: " For cigarette smokers nationwide, your days of congenital puffing are breathtakingly numbered, first by being chased out of restaurants, air-conditioned shopping malls and government buildings, followed by stiffer imposition of sales tax and duties, and now a ban on the ubiquitous 14-pack..." Following this quote I wrote a provocative statement, "Is smoking still an act of cool savagery? Think of the fatal ill-effects smoking can cause!!!"

To my surprise, I did not receive much response from Facebook friends. Personally I am strongly against habitual smoking. Apart from being a threat and a nuisance to our health, it is also tightening on monthly budget. The worst consequence is not just on the smokers themselves but also on the non-smokers, because smoking would indirectly affect them as passive smokers. 

There have been a lot of efforts already carried out by the authorities in Malaysia to curb smoking. Among others are public relations campaigns carried out from time to time by relevant agencies. The biggest campaign was the 'Tak Nak' campaign launched sometime in the 1990s when the government spent millions of ringgit to create no-smoking awareness, particularly among the younger generation. But to what extent this campaign has been successful could be seen from the habit that still prevails largely among our people. Apart from current efforts like banning smoking in public places such as shopping complex, government premises, cinemas, all modes of transportation, university campuses, smoking prohibition among teenagers, and imposition of sales tax and duties on cigarettes, there ought to be more aggressive measures and commitment by the authorities.

I am impressed by Australia's bold move to ban logos and branding on cigarette packets as reported in the newspapers yesterday. Cigarettes will be sold in plain, standardized packages carrying large graphic warnings against smoking and the brand name will appear in small print from 2012, under proposed new legislation.
The move is bound to spark furious response from the tobacco industry. This is going to be the most hard line move as the Australian government has also planned to curb tobacco advertising on the Internet. "Cigarettes are not cool, cigarettes kill people," said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He added,"The government makes no apology for what we are doing - it's the right decision."

In Malaysia too, if the government were to take such serious measures there is bound to be adverse reactions from the tobacco growers and the industries related to it. The agriculture department for one would have to think of the alternative crop to replace tobacco. They would have to examine the total impact on the income to the growers and what other cash crops could be grown to supplement their income.

If the graphic warning on 'smoking is dangerous to health' that appear on cigarette packets  is not effective enough to scare away smokers, what other measures can we think of? Should we follow the Australian move?