About The Ban

Nah bei. Naaaaaaaaaaaah beeeeeeeeeeeei... Sometimes I swear the "gahment" is too much. I don't know who the hell they're consulting with in terms of the public but I seriously doubt smokers constituted a majority of the poll. Which is pretty fucked up, since the way I see it, that pretty much boils down to a bunch of non-smoking wankers dictating when and what is an appropriate time and place to smoke. Talk about a fucking dip in democracy, the little that Singapore had to begin with anyway...

Hell, I'm a considerate smoker. I don't smoke when I'm surrounded by kids. I don't throw my cigarette butts into public drains. I don't exale into non-smokers' faces. Why the hell should I have to conform just because 84-fucking-% of Singaporean society says I should? Picture this you bunch of autocratic, self-righteous arseholes. April's got her middle finger extended all the way up and it's pointing directly at the lot of you.

Absolutely April. Absolutely pissed off.

Aug 1, 2005

Smoking ban in hawker centres, coffee shops

Designated smoking areas to be set up by July next year; clubs, bars follow in 2007

By Lynn Lee

THE ban on smoking will extend to hawker centres and coffee shops in a year's time and to entertainment outlets in 2007.

Patrons must confine themselves to designated smoking areas if they insist on lighting up.
Singapore's latest assault on second-hand smoke rolls out on July 1 next year.

'Non-smokers will be insulated and they can makan at hawker centres or coffee shops without having to suffer secondary smoke,' said Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday.

The new rules will also apply to alfresco restaurants.

Pubs, clubs and karaoke lounges will have to protect non-smokers exactly one year later in 2007.

At the request of outlet owners, small smoking sections will be permitted. If indoors, these must have separate ventilation systems.

Dr Yaacob announced these moves when speaking to reporters after a community event. He stressed that the decision was the outcome of wide consultations with owners of food and entertainment venues, and the public.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been collecting feedback since the Government let on in March this year that it was considering extending the no-smoking ban to more public spots.

The responses from smokers were reassuring, Dr Yaacob said. They were 'sympathetic' to families who had to breathe second-hand smoke in coffee shops and hawker centres.

Entertainment outlet owners were also supportive. But they asked for concessions to be made for their smoking customers.

'We want to be helpful to their businesses and find some mitigation measures which are acceptable,' Dr Yaacob said.

The lead-time of one to two years before the ban kicks in should be sufficient for them to make adjustments to their outlets, he said, adding that NEA would release more details in a few days.

However, operators contacted yesterday were already predicting that business would suffer.
Said Mr Hong Poh Hin, chairman of the Foochow Coffee Restaurants and Bar Merchants Association chairman: 'Business at our coffee shops may drop 30 per cent, as a lot of our customers drink and smoke when they eat.'

Mr Marco Miranda, the general manager of Bar None at the Marriott Hotel, predicted business might fall by 20 per cent, especially its cigar sales.

Like several other operators, he said the management was waiting to see how much floor space could be turned into a smoker's corner.

Second-hand smoke contains at least twice as much nicotine and tar as smoke inhaled by smokers, raising the risk of lung cancer in passive smokers.

It is worse in pubs and clubs - up to 450 per cent higher than in homes with at least one smoker. Such sobering statistics have prompted countries like Ireland and the American state of California to ban smoking in pubs and clubs, while the British government proposes to do so by
2008.

The new regulations, said Dr Yaacob, are not a 'major move' but part of the Government's efforts to combat smoking, which began in 1970. The proportion of Singaporeans who smoke has fallen to 14 per cent, down from 18 per cent in 1992.

For now, the immediate change, announced earlier, is on Oct 1 this year: Smoking will no longer be allowed at bus shelters and interchanges, public pools and toilets, community clubs and open-air stadiums.