Oil rig soldiers determined to 'quit'… cigarettes!

Quit smoking, save money, improve health

On this trip to DK1/10 platform (Ca Mau shoal), Lieutenant Nguyen Huu Cuong (from Nghe An) did not have to bring cigarettes like on previous trips. Simply because Cuong had quit smoking.

Lieutenant Colonel Nghiem Xuan Thai, Political Commissar of Battalion DK1 (Navy Region 2 Command), said that due to the nature of the work in a place surrounded by the sea, with many storms and winds, and having to work at night, it was previously estimated that about 35-40% of officers and soldiers on the DK1 platform smoked. After the Navy's directive, although there were no preliminary figures, the general assessment was that officers and soldiers on the platform complied well as most of them quit smoking. The inland units of the battalion must strictly implement the above directive.

Meeting on DK1/10 platform near Tet, Lieutenant Cuong said he has more than 20 years of military service and has been working regularly on the platform for the past 14 years. Currently, Cuong works on DK1/8, DK1/9, DK1/10, DK1/11, DK1/12, DK1/14 platforms.

Before, every time he went to the rig, in addition to clothes, medicine, and food, an indispensable thing, carefully packed in his personal belongings, was about 7-8 packs of cigarettes. If he was frugal, Cuong would only smoke these cigarettes for 2-3 months. Every time he ran out of cigarettes, Cuong had to quickly ask someone to buy cigarettes and send them by ship to the rig. “Working on the rig, the waves are big, the wind is cold, and we have to stay far from home, and we have to work at night, so when we get addicted to cigarettes, we smoke more. On average, I smoke one pack a day, so I smoke 30 packs a month. If each pack of cigarettes costs about 20,000 VND, that means we spend about 600,000 VND a month on cigarettes. A fairly large amount compared to a soldier's income,” Lieutenant Cuong confided.

According to Mr. Cuong, the first benefit of quitting smoking is saving money. The next benefit is that health is clearly improved: sleep is deeper and more restful; food tastes better, no bad breath and less coughing. However, quitting smoking for addicts, especially marines who are exposed to wind and rain all year round, is not easy. Mr. Cuong said that when he first quit smoking, he always felt like he was losing his soul, always feeling like something was missing. Even in the first few days, food sometimes did not taste good.

Senior Lieutenant Le Van Minh (from Ha Tinh, working at DK1/10 platform) said that he used to smoke about 10 cigarettes a day. Senior Lieutenant Minh tried to quit smoking many times but failed. However, since January 1, 2019, he has been determined to "give up" cigarettes. "My wife has advised me to quit many times but I have not succeeded. This time I have not informed her about quitting, but will surprise my wife when I return to the mainland," said Senior Lieutenant Minh.

DK1/10 rig is located in Ca Mau Trung Hieu shoal

Platform commanders must set an example.

It is no coincidence that on the recent trip to DK1 platform, Thanh Nien reporters witnessed many officers and soldiers at DK1 platform "quitting" smoking.

Officers and soldiers at DK1/10 platform practice gym to improve health Trung Hieu

On June 14, 2018, the Navy Command issued Directive 7061/CT-BTL of the Navy Commander on implementing smoke-free in the service. In which, the directive also pointed out that in the service there are still many agencies and units with many soldiers, defense workers and civil servants who smoke. The reason is that the Party committees and commanders have not done a good job of propagating and mobilizing the implementation of the Law on Prevention of Tobacco Harm, and have not fully recognized the effects of tobacco on the health of soldiers, thereby affecting the completion of the common tasks of their agencies and units. From there, the Navy issued a directive, providing a roadmap for agencies and units in the Service to implement "No tobacco smoke".

Officers and soldiers of DK1/10 platform take care of the vegetable garden at Trung Hieu platform

Lieutenant Le Van Minh said that after the directive was issued, units on the platform began to encourage and motivate officers and soldiers to quit smoking. Officers and soldiers also had to commit to implementing the contents of the directive issued by the Navy.

Smoke one cigarette and the whole house will know

As a non-smoker, Lieutenant Bui Trung Kien (DK1/10 rig) strongly supports the Navy's smoking ban. According to Kien, the most important thing in encouraging people to quit smoking is awareness, but the rig still has a monitoring mechanism for smokers. That is, assigning non-smokers to monitor smokers, and people in the same room or next to the room to monitor each other.

In addition, the platform also increases sports activities (table tennis, gym, etc.) and cultural activities for officers and soldiers on the platform to relax and forget about smoking. “Unlike on the mainland, the activities of officers and soldiers are only limited to a small area on the platform, so monitoring smoking is quite easy. Just one cigarette and the whole platform knows, the smoker cannot hide anywhere,” Lieutenant Kien said with a laugh.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/linh-nha-gian-quyet-tam-doan-tuyet-thuoc-la-185829095.htm