Eshin Direct

I am pleased to note that the crusade against smoking is firmly taking hold around the world. The motherland¹ has decided rather annoyingly to ban smoking at the airport of all places. You actually have to walk out of the building. Nice for travellers needing a fix to see them through the next 12 or so hours. Nope, not a faint whiff of a sealed room to smoke your own cigarette (and the cigarette smoke of the 30 other, usually male, occupants of the hermetically sealed zoo exhibit).

Singapore recently passed a law² that prohibits smoking in the following places³:

• a. Indoor public places. These include non air-conditioned shops, non air-conditioned shopping centres (e.g. neighbourhood shopping centres), non air-conditioned offices, hotel lobbies, markets, multi-storey and basement car parks, ferry terminals, and more.
• b. Lift lobbies
• c. Entrances and exits to buildings and facilities where smoking is already prohibited. (within 5 metres of the entrances or exits where applicable)
• d. Playgrounds and exercise areas

Well, to be honest, I thought that most of the above was already considered to be non-smoking so enacting a law was nice of the government to point this out to me. Evidently, even when I thought it was illegal already, it was a great deterrent.

Playgrounds and exercise areas? Well, I thought that was just plain common sense. But well, I suppose we have to stop those pesky smokers from lighting up at night when all ‘em kiddies are out playing on the monkey bars. Those die-hard smokers are always exercising.

The 5 metre entrance and exit rule is a funny one. In the last two weeks, I’ve seen people trying funny ways to figure out how to measure 5 metres. No-one is really quite sure and neither are the security guards⁴. Which leads me to the one vital flaw in this crusade to ostracize smokers… I doubt very much that there is enough officially authorized manpower to enforce the new regulations.

Entrances and exits to buildings and facilities where smoking is already prohibited were also included in the ban extension because feedback and checks on the ground have shown that smokers tend to congregate near entrances/exits to smoke.

So, in your infinite wisdom to ban smoking en-masse from air-conditioned offices with not a thought for allowing smoking rooms or other hermetically sealed internal locations, perhaps it might have been a good idea considering that everyone one exposed to the second-hand smoke. I’m sure the extra taxes that smokers pay could have gone to funding such an initiative.

Or perhaps even putting some money behind the government’s own advise to building managers.

The (NEA) agency has also conducted meetings and dialogue sessions with various parties and will continue to work with building/facilities managers on site to ensure smooth implementation of the smoking prohibition. Building managers, for example, are advised to set up designated smoking points away from entrances/exits and direct smokers to the smoking point.

Yes, I’ve noticed buildings have been quick to provide this designated smoking point. The problem, to be fair to building managers, is that in most cases, they have no right to set up anything more than 5 metres away from their entrances or exits.

Perhaps allowing sealed-off smoking clubs where smokers can quite happily puff away in peace and contentment. Non-smokers would then have the choice on whether to meet their friends there or not⁵. Of course, with the extensive range of laws in place against any form of indoor smoking, this is not a feasible option.

I’ll be happy when the moral crusade ends. My hope is that the government tackles something a little more dangerous to the health of Singaporeans and revoke the driving licenses issued since 1971 until drivers here learn a basic mirror, signal, maneuver trick that actually does form part of the driving curriculum.

1. The Netherlands is the motherland since I’ve never actually lived there but they sure as hell can repeal my sorry ass if they wanted to. [↩]
2. To be fair, passing laws is really a moot thing, so I think they just enacted new policy. [↩]
3. Taken from the NEA website, although apparently the link is down [↩]
4. Again, the second most useful profession in this fair island nation, after a taxi drivers. [↩]
5. Akin, say to a bar for any form of minority group [↩]

Tags: Political Thoughts, singapore, smoking, stupid laws