Paul, aka ShatteredSword in Ingress, is a huge wrestling fan, an awesome cook, and an avid collector of fountain pens and an strong advocate of wetshaving. He’s also quite methodical and detailed, and knows the back of UPM like no one else (except students!). This year, Paul switched from cancer sticks to vaping. Here’s his story.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a 41 year old Malaysian Indian guy with 2 lovely (and mischievous!) daughters. I run my own consulting and training company dealing mainly with Innovation and Intellectual Property. I love reading and tinkering around with Gundams and other plastic models whenever I find the time to do so.

Q: Tell us about your smokin’ history.
I started smoking during college days, around the time when I was 19. I quit the very same year and started smoking again 5 years later. I am 41 years old now and thus, have been smoking for 17 years.

Q: Tell us about your previous attempts to quit.
This is probably the 3rd or 4th attempt at quitting. Every other time I tried to quit via cold turkey. While it did work the first time around, the other attempts were not successful at all.

Q: How did you get started on vaping?
I came across the idea of using vaping (electronic cigarettes) when I stumbled across a post on Reddit. Someone shared his story about how by using electronic cigarettes, (that’s a very inaccurate way to call the device btw) he managed to stay away from normal cigarettes for 2 years. So I did some investigating, got myself a starter kit and trampled what was left of my normal cigarettes in a car park in 1Utama and never looked back.

Q: You mentioned that you planned to quit smoking completely, and that vaping was part of the plan. How far along are you? (Yes I know it sounds like you’re pregnant).
At the time of writing this, I have not smoked a cigarette for 89 95 days (Ed’s note: on day of publishing). I’ve been vaping e-liquids which contain 6mg of nicotine at the moment and there is a plan to quit everything, even vaping by next year.

E-Cigarette/Electronic Cigarette/E-Cigs/E-Liquid/Vaping/Stop Smoking/Quit Smoking by Vaping360, on Flickr
Q: Walk us through a day with vaping and another with cigarettes.
Typically when I was smoking I would finish about 10 sticks in a day. These days I vape whenever necessary. A 30 ml bottle of e liquid lasts about a week for me. In terms of price I’d say I’m spending half the amount that I used to spend on cigarettes.

Q: Do you ever miss cigarettes?
To be brutally honest, I did. Especially in the second week. But I persisted and these days the very smell of cigarettes make me sick. (editor’s note: That’s quite a change!)

Q: What’s your current favourite flavour?
Rootbeer Float! To add a side note, most people who are coming off cigarettes tend to want a tobacco flavoured e liquid to vape on. At least that’s what their minds would be telling them. But, it’s advisable to go with a fruit/beverage or even dessert flavoured e liquids to help with the transition as your taste buds will improve the longer that you’ve been off cigarettes.

Q: They say if you quit, you get your sense of taste back. Is that really the case?
Yes you do. Its not something imagined or psychological in nature. There is a tangible difference in taste and smell. Which is a good thing for me as I cook. (Editor’s note: I can attest to this! His food is yummy!)

Q: What’s your advice for those thinking of switching from cigarettes to vaping in Malaysia?
Read up on every bit of information that you can before making the switch. Reddit’s r/electronic_cigarette is a great place to start! (read the sidebar first!)

Find a good place that offers you proper advice without putting profits before wanting YOU to stop smoking (impossible, I know). To this end however, I am willing to share advice at no cost. Details on how to reach me will be provided shortly.*

Thank you for your time.

• If you are on Ingress, just ping @ShatteredSword on the general comm. xD