KUALA LUMPUR – Concerns raised by coffee shop owners over the possibility of their businesses suffering if smoking is banned for individuals born after 2005 have been slammed as being “irrelevant”.
Selangor Bebas Asap Rokok (Selbar) campaign director Dr Mohd Afiq Mohd Nor said that such “confused” owners are attempting to spread uncertainty among the public on the matter.
He asserted that coffee shop proprietors and restaurant operators should support the implementation of smoking bans at eateries, which was introduced by former health minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad during Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) time in federal power.
Under Dzulkefly’s watch, the PH administration then had gazetted all eateries, including open-air establishments, as smoke-free zones from January 2019.
The ban came into force in January the following year.
“From the moment the law was introduced, more customers began bringing their family members and young children out to eat as they felt safer and more comfortable dining outside,” he told Getaran, The Vibes’ Malay-language sister portal, today.
He added that while there are still stubborn smokers who refuse to abide by the rules, on-field enforcement efforts have been strengthened since the country began its transition into the endemic phase.
Afiq also pointed out that the National Health and Morbidity Survey showed that passive smokers have been less exposed to cigarette smoke at 41.9% in 2019, compared with 51.9% in 2015.
As such, he stressed that the matter should not cause worries as it evidently brings about much good, taking operators who claim the opposite to task.
“I would like to ask the owners who are making a lot of noise now, are you selling cigarettes or coffee? Why are you so worried about cigarettes?” he questioned.
His comments follow a report published by an English-language newspaper on concerns that businesses will be impacted once the “Generation End-Game” target against smoking is enforced, as contraband cigarettes are easily available in the nation.
In April, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the draft bill to ban smoking for those born in 2005 and after is in the final stages of review by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and is expected to be tabled in Parliament in July.
Under the proposed act, children born in 2005 and subsequent years are prohibited from smoking, buying, or possessing any type of smoking products, including electronic cigarettes or vape products, even after reaching 18 years old.
Apart from this, shopkeepers and cigarette vendors are also not allowed to sell smoking products to those covered by the ban.
Noting that the ban on owning and smoking cigarettes for those born after 2005 has nothing to do with existing smokers, Afiq, who is also an emergency physician at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, advised coffee shop operators to avoid confusing the public with incorrect facts.
“A majority of the generation in question is still clean from the bad habit of smoking and are also too young to smoke cigarettes or vape,” he said.
“Why are coffee shop owners worried about smuggled cigarettes in relation to this group? Isn’t it better that this generation will never smoke, especially contraband cigarettes?”
He added that health complications resulting from smoking have caused losses to the country as the government has to fork out RM4 for every RM1 tax received from cigarette sales to treat smoking-related diseases.
Calling on the public to gather their efforts and successfully realise the new policy, he said that help will continue to be provided for existing smokers in the hopes they will eventually quit the habit.
“I, the shopkeepers, and other members of the public certainly do not want our younger generation to be trapped and deceived by a nicotine addiction that will eventually destroy their health and lives,” he said. – The Vibes, June 26, 2022
