Antismoking campaign

It was like a whiff of fresh air to note that an awareness is being created by antismoking campaigners to cleanse the body and mind of this nation's tobacco smokers, both the active and the passive ones.

News reports say that this country has the dubious distinction of being the world's fourth-least aware smokers, after China, the United States and Japan, when it comes to realizing the bad effects of smoking on a person's health.

Strike while the iron is hot says an English proverb. The recent change in this nation's political arena, which was considered, hitherto, as unimaginable, has proven the strength and power of the united students and an awakened mass. Why don't we harness the energy of the same students to achieve a cleaner, healthier and more beautifully green country, that has been a land of our dreams.

With the country reeling under an unprecedented economic crisis, time could not be more opportune to educate the masses of this nation about the need to stop smoking, thereby improving the quality of their life, as also that of their near and dear ones. The students could help spread the message in rural areas too.

MAHADEVAN WISWANATHAN

Karawang, West Java