Recently, our Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye during a forum announced that the Ministry of Health will gazette all open-air restaurants, hawker centres and street stalls as no-smoking areas.
This ban takes effect today. Hooray! I say.
To show their resolve, the ministry backed this up with stiff penalties. A person who is caught smoking at a prohibited area would be fined RM10,000 and in addition to this, eateries that do not enforce the ban would be fined RM2,500.
This authority, it seems is derived from Regulation 22 of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 made under Section 36(2)(d) of the Food Act 1983, which empowers the Health Minister to make regulations declaring certain places as a no-smoking place.
Dr Lee also stated there are 5,000 environmental health officers ready to enforce the smoking ban. This is very good as we all know enforcement in this type of matter is very weak.
I think the silent majority welcomed this wonderful announcement that will protect people from the harmful and really irritating effects of second-hand smoke.
But in Sarawak, it seems our Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian had other ideas. He said Sarawak would not enforce the smoking ban effective Jan 1.
” It seems some people only read the headlines that Sarawak would not enforce the no-smoking ban starting today and jumped to the wrong conclusion, that Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian does not support the ban.”
He further announced that Sarawak would implement its own law to implement the smoking ban.
For many of us who have been promoting Safeguard Sarawak, Sarawak First, and Sarawak for Sarawakians etc., this was a logical statement. It was in keeping with our desire to maintain and also regain our autonomy.
Therefore, it came as a surprise to some of us when he was strongly criticised for his stance. But why criticise Dr Sim?
It seems some people only read the headlines that Sarawak would not enforce the no-smoking ban starting today and jumped to the wrong conclusion, that he does not support the ban.
In social media, he was roundly censured with accusations that as a cardiologist he should be supporting the ban.
Even many who considered themselves well informed jumped onto the bandwagon attacking Dr Sim. These well-meaning critics should have read the entire article to get an accurate picture.
He is a well-known cardiologist and is widely known for promoting a healthy lifestyle through many events and functions. Unfortunately, he was quickly castigated without much thought about his good track record on health issues.
” In terms of Sarawak’s autonomy, it was precisely this ‘go with the flow’ mentality which got us into the current mess and lost us many of our rights.”
Then there were some others who knew and understood what he had said in its entirety and yet chose to launch attacks on him. These were the political opportunists. These piranhas took the opportunity to take some bites.
He was asked by some not to make an issue out of the federal government’s smoking ban and to just ‘go with the flow’, so to speak.
In terms of Sarawak’s autonomy, it was precisely this ‘go with the flow’ mentality which got us into the current mess and lost us many of our rights.
I would say that some who launched into a diatribe against him were trying to please their Malayan masters. They were politicking. We Sarawakians must stay alert and should not be misled by the sycophant supporters of Malayan politics.
This episode shows the danger of people losing sight of the big picture. The Malayans must have had a field day watching this ‘Sarawakians not for Sarawakian’ situation unfolding.
It’s very fortunate Dr Sim stood firm and clarity won the day.
A lesson to take away from this past few days is that always have a clear mind when it comes to matters related to Sarawak, no matter how innocent the issue might be on the surface.
In fact, the Sarawak government should also look at other past federal legislations they can pass as our own ordinances or via amendments to our own existing ordinances. This would enhance our stance on autonomy.
Otherwise, eventually all the aspirations for Sarawak rights and autonomy will go up in smoke!
Having opined on the whole situation, I would however also want to say that the law in question should be adopted by us in its entirety. If necessary even enhance it more.
This smoking ban is our country’s commitment as a member state of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. We should adhere to its guidelines under Article 8 of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
After all, we keep saying that we want Sarawak to have world class this and that. So let us in Sarawak have a piece of law which complies with a world-class law.
I am sure there is a lot of pressure on our Sarawak politicians from various quarters to water down the smoking ban law.
There are also smokers on social media voicing out that they have ‘smokers rights’. I disagree and there can be no such thing. By the way, a majority of smokers are also litterbugs. How many smokers have you seen go out of the way to throw their cigarette butts in a dustbin?
There is nothing healthy, good or beneficial about smoking to oneself or secondary smoking to others. Do not give in to these pressures for popularity purposes. After all, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has said he would rather lose votes than compromise on people’s health.
I do hope that the statement by the Society for Cancer Advocacy and Awareness (Scan) to implement a stricter version of the smoking ban is taken up soon. Our Sarawak version should be made law as soon as possible. There should be no dithering on this important matter.
Otherwise, all the goodwill obtained for standing up for Sarawak rights in relation to passing our own smoking ban law will go ‘up in smoke’ as the majority (including even some smokers) would support strong measures regulating places where smoking can take place.
