A no-smoking sign conspicuously displayed at a coffee shop in Sibu to remind the public not to light up.
SIBU: Sibu Coffee Shop & Restaurant Owners Association is urging its 400 members not to provide ashtrays to their patrons in compliance with the smoking ban which starts in Sarawak today.
Association chairman Tong Ing Kok said eateries are given six months grace period, but compliance should start immediately.
Among the requirements of the smoking ban are the display of no-smoking signs in eateries and a stop to providing ashtrays.
The ban covers all restaurants, coffee shops, hawker centres and open-air eateries throughout the state.
As for the display of no-smoking sign, Tong said his association has about 800 pieces of the signs for members.
He said these will be distributed to members during the association’s annual general meeting on March 10 at New Capitol Restaurant here.
“Each member will get one sign free of charge. Non-members may buy one from us,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, an eatery operator here said he had removed ashtrays as well as lighters.
Eateries are asked to not place ashtrays on their tables for customers, now that the smoking ban is in effect.
However, he opined that those who frequented his coffee shop several times a day to light up and have a drink may not do so as often now that the ban is imposed.
He hoped that after the six-month grace period, the government could gather input on the impact and, perhaps, be more lenient by giving some leeway to smokers who sit outside the premises along the five-foot-way.
The smoking ban was imposed in Peninsular Malaysia on Jan 1, 2019 while Sabah started the ban on Feb 1.
With the ban now in Sarawak, those caught smoking in prohibited areas will be fined up to RM10,000 or face up to two years’ jail, while eateries found to have allowed customers to light up will be slapped with a maximum fine of RM2,500.