Would you mind leaving me alone?

A self-proclaimed ‘ordinary old man’ has politely asked the chair of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health whether she would mind leaving him alone.

At the start of a whimsical piece published in the comments and letters section of the South China Morning Post, Lee Lung-wing, of Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong, introduced himself as being – as well as being an ordinary old man – a smoker.

‘I have lived for 70 years and spent much of my youthful time on the mainland during the Cultural Revolution,’ he wrote.

‘Ms Lisa Lau, chair of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, resembles the admirable and well-intentioned revolutionaries of my time. She wrote [a letter] pleading for public support to save my life by increasing tobacco tax (“Raising tobacco tax is a guaranteed measure to save more lives”, February 19).

‘Thank you, Ms Lau. I cannot commend your cause more. However, as a smoker for nearly half a century, I have come to the conclusion that it is my choice to be a smoker and it is my life that is at stake. Would you mind leaving me alone? I am old and my life might not be worth your effort saving.’

Lee’s piece, which goes on strongly to support efforts to stop young people smoking, is at: http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1432605/war-smoking-will-achieve-same-result-war-drugs.