Years beyond his wisdom

Every so often, there will be a news report that says something like, "Really old dude still alive!" Well, it should, because that's generally all there is in the story. Yahoo! reports (link via Drudge) that Chan Chi has been living for 107 years, and the kicker is that he's been abstinent from sex since his wife died decades ago. Here's the usual boring stuff:

Chan, from Hong Kong's less built-up New Territories hinterland, was pictured looking sprightly and eating heartily at the banquet [for the city's elders].

A former chef, he said a low-fat diet and regular dawn exercises had helped him fight off the ravages of old age.

Ok, goodie for you. Nothing surprising there at all. But then there's this part:

But the centenarian, who's had no difficulty living a monastic existence for nearly 80 years, admits the pleasures of tobacco have been harder to resist.

"Now I want to quit," he was quoted as saying of his decades-long cigarette addiction. "Maybe the government should ban cigarette sales so I can give it up," he added.

Are you kidding me? First of all, I'm having a hard enough time believing a guy who can live to 107 should give up anything that he's doing. Secondly, the only way this guy thinks he can stop is to have the government ban cigarette sales? People have quit without the government banning cigarettes. He could try some program, support group, the patch, the gum, or even jelly beans.