PETALING JAYA: Smokers are persistently lighting up in restaurants and other prohibited areas, undermining Malaysia’s tobacco control efforts, with anti-smoking advocates pointing to weak enforcement and poor leadership by example as key factors behind the problem.
According to data from the jomlapor.com portal, more than half of the 8,000-plus smoking offences reported were about people smoking in prohibited areas.
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Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said it is particularly disturbing when high-ranking government officials are seen smoking in public or in areas where it is prohibited as it sends the wrong message to the public.
He noted that although smoking has been banned in government buildings since 1984, some civil servants continue to smoke in their offices and on government-owned premises.
“For this war against smoking to succeed, there has to be good leadership with civil servants refraining from smoking in public and setting a good example. They need to walk the talk.
“We have witnessed many top officials lighting up openly and this is a bad image for the anti-smoking stance the government promotes.
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“Often, there is much talk about how cigarettes earn the government taxes. However, for every RM1 earned this way, the government ends up forking out four times more in healthcare costs to treat the ailments a smoker develops as a result of their habit,” he said.
To demonstrate seriousness in tackling the issue, the government should impose a condition that only non-smokers will be employed by the civil service, Muhammad Sha’ani proposed.
He said he also supports the cancelled generational end game (GEG) policy, which he described as an excellent plan to gradually wipe out smoking, and which he claims was shelved due to lobbying by the tobacco industry.
“According to a 2023 census, 19% of our population were smokers, we are resolute about lowering this to 5% by 2045,” he said when contacted.
Staunch anti-smoking advocate Molly Cheah said that while the law clearly spells out smoking and vaping prohibitions, the measures are ineffective without strict enforcement.
“Legislation is useless if there is no strict enforcement. Perhaps harsher penalties are necessary if that is the only language smokers understand about not lighting up in prohibited spaces,” said the former MCTC president.
Cheah also proposed that restaurant owners who repeatedly allow smoking on their premises face tougher penalties, including having their businesses shut down for several days.
She added that restaurant owners and their staff should be firm in ensuring diners do not smoke on their premises.
