Lo Khere Chiang
KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang has observed that most smokers are civic-minded, adhering to the smoking ban policy.
The Batu Kitang assemblyman said most of those who needed to puff a cigarette would do so a distance from the food premises.
“I could not be more pleased to observe that smokers will light a cigarette away from the food premises. This goes to show that they realise that they have a civic duty to the society.
“It also shows that they want to comply with the regulation,” he said when met by reporters after attending a function at Kampung Haji Baki here yesterday.
Lo said it was a good sign that Sarawakians were showing their increasing level of civic-mindedness like what the Japanese and South Koreans had been practising.
He said he had seen some smokers keep a distance from the food premises they were patronising when they had to puff a cigarette.
Even though some quarters had protested against the smoking ban prior to the implementation in Sarawak from March 1, he believed that the majority of Sarawakians still knew to respect others and abide by the law.
“We are now under a six-month grace period called ‘Educational Enforcement’. But I’m glad to see smokers taking the initiative not to smoke inside the food premises,” he added.
Lo said the authorities would definitely take action against offenders once the ‘Educational Enforcement’ period is over.
Despite so, he hoped that every smoker would observe and comply with the law as well as respect the rest of the community.
From Sept 1, the actual enforcement of the smoking ban will come into effect with penalties imposed on both smokers and food premises operators or owners who are caught violating the policy.
Those caught smoking in prohibited areas will be fined an amount not exceeding RM10,000 or jailed for two years and food premises found not displaying the ‘No Smoking’ sign will be fined an amount not exceeding RM3,000 or face imprisonment of six months.
The smoking ban is Malaysia’s commitment as a member state to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
It adheres to the guidelines under Article 8 of the World Health Organisation.
While Sarawak implemented the smoking ban on March 1, Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah enforced the same policy on Jan 1 and Feb 1, respectively.