PETALING JAYA: You’re sitting in a restaurant enjoying your food when the smell of cigarette smoke hits you.
“No smoking” signs are plastered all around yet you see someone lighting up nearby.
The thought of telling the person off crosses your mind – but what if he reacts angrily or even violently?
Did you know that you can take action against errant smokers safely?
With just the camera on your phone you can lodge a report against anyone smoking in a prohibited area at jomlapor.com.
While keeping you anonymous, the portal will upload an image of the offender – with the face blurred – together with location information.
Some 4,396 cases of smoking in prohibited areas were reported at jomlapor.com between December 2024 and February this year.
This made up more than half of the total offences recorded by the portal during this period (8,387 offences).
The Jomlapor portal was set up to improve advocacy for the enforcement of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852).
It aims to empower the community and individuals to highlight the need for greater enforcement.
Act 852 came into force on Oct 1, 2024, with full implementation beginning on Oct 1, 2025.
Among the groups involved in jomlapor.com are the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC), National Cancer Society of Malaysia, Malaysian Pharmacists Society, Malaysian Dental Association and Ikram Health, an NGO.
Every evening, a copy of all reports lodged for the day at the portal is sent to the Health Ministry, state Health Departments and local governments.
This alerts relevant authorities to hotspots so they can carry out targeted operations, said MCTC president Prof Dr Murallitharan Munisamy. He explained that due to the lack of manpower to carry out enforcement, jomlapor.com can help identify areas for action.
“Civil society built this comprehensive portal alongside pushing for greater awareness on it,” he said, adding that the groups that manage the portal will carry out a comprehensive nationwide survey soon to monitor compliance with Act 852.
“The authorities should publicise action taken through jomlapor.com in enforcing Act 852 as it will help the rakyat have confidence in our system,” Dr Murallitharan said.
Besides smoking in areas where it is prohibited, other offences reported are the sale of cigarettes, cigars and heated products below RM12 (1,224 reports), tobacco-related advertisements (1,010) and non-compliance with the setting up of no-smoking signs (947).
Other recorded offences are the sale of smoking products online and through vending machines (236) and non-compliance with display bans at convenience stores (201).
The highest number of total offences were reported in Selangor (2,294) followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,818), Johor (868), Penang (506), Perak (452) and Sarawak (357).
Some 298 cases were recorded in Pahang, 292 in Negri Sembilan, 271 in Terengganu, 223 in Melaka, 215 in Kedah, 205 in Sabah, 120 in Kelantan, 41 in Putrajaya, 29 in Perlis and 18 in Labuan.
Recently, the Health Ministry also said almost half of the notices issued for smoking in prohibited areas last year were for offences in restaurants.
The ministry said that smoking in restaurants accounted for 62,978 of the 140,217 offences recorded under Section 16(2) of Act 852.
Some 20,884 compounds were issued to owners of premises for providing smoking amenities and for failing to display no smoking signs.
A total of 22,278 enforcement operations were carried out last year.
