This is the article for my english blog project. As the link most probably do not work (due to a need of signing in), the whole article is reproduced here.
Taken from SPH Newslink: Click Here to access the article
So Simple to Light Up
By Samuel Lim
The Straits Times 16/05/06
Curiosity, peer pressure and the wish to rebel prompt teens to pick up smoking, they tell reporter Samuel Lim - and there are plenty of shops where they can easily get their hands on that first pack
IN SINGAPORE, you have to be 18 and above to buy cigarettes legally.
Samantha Lee, 15, in a denim skirt and pink T-shirt, bought a pack of Marlboro Menthol Lights at a coffee shop in Serangoon.
'I'm 18' was all that Mervyn Lau, 14, needed to say to get a pack of Virginia Slims from 7-Eleven.
But when Natalie Koh, 15, wanted to buy a pack of Marlboro Lights and tried to convince Mr Heng Mui Thiang, a provision shop owner in Ang Mo Kio, that she had left her identity card at home, she was rebuffed.
She was told very firmly: 'Sorry. No IC, no sale.'
Her back-up plan: 'I guess we'll just have to go to the 7-Eleven across the road instead.'
Mr Heng was one of 15 shopkeepers who asked for proof of age - out of 40 outlets licensed to sell cigarettes that The Straits Times visited.
The opposite happened when a photojournalist - armed with a large camera - accompanied members of the INCrowd on the assignment. Two underage buyers managed to purchase only one pack of cigarettes after trying at 10 different stores.
Because cigarettes are so easily obtained, some teens see them as an accessible kind of forbidden fruit.
So what if buying them is illegal, they say, hardly anyone says 'no' to them. They are more afraid of school rules against smokers - they may get expelled if teachers and principals catch them.
Teens who smoke - and buy cigarettes - are unconcerned about the health risks.
'Those who begin smoking at an early age are more likely to develop severe nicotine addiction than those who start later,' said Dr Khoo See Meng, associate consultant of the National University Hospital's division of respiratory medicine.
'Teenage smokers are also more likely to have seen a doctor or health professional for an emotional or psychological complaint.'
Still, they start because they are curious, want to rebel or are under peer pressure.
Shun Tao, 16, who started smoking two years ago, bought her first cigarette from the provision shop at her void deck. One stick soon grew to one pack a day, and she stated sadly: 'I'm addicted.'
Want to be like an adult
LOGAN, now 20, began smoking secretly at 13 although 'I knew it was illegal'. He said smoking 'made me feel big, like an adult'.
Older teens even see smoking as a social activity.
When Patrick Tang, 17, started school in Singapore Polytechnic, he felt left out whenever his friends went for a 'smoke break'.
He picked up smoking recently despite protests from his friends because he was tired of being 'the only one who was left behind with nothing to do'.
This sort of group-think makes the habit appealing to the young.
Mr Tham Lup Hong, head of the Health Sciences Authority's Tobacco Regulation Unit, pointed out that underage smoking is a social problem.
That is why enforcing the law to curb buying will not be enough to prevent teens from smoking.
Public education, community involvement and parental instruction all play an important role in addressing the matter.
This drive, headed by the Health Promotion Board, has yielded some results - almost all teen smokers say they find the habit 'unhealthy'.
But just how far from their minds is 'unhealthy' as they puff away?
'I smoke because it's fun. There's no harm in trying,' said Patrick.
Never mind that young smokers are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease, twice as likely to have stroke and, on average, live seven years less than their non-smoking peers.
Already, smokers who picked up the habit as teens now sing a different tune, as health issuesbecome more pertinent as they age.
Sashi, 20, who has been smoking on and off for seven years, regrets even starting. Now, he says: 'They don't know what they're getting into. It's going to take their life and their money away.'