KUALA LUMPUR: The move to impose a fine on small business operators should their customers smoke on their premises is improper and burdensome, said Asean Traders Association president Datuk Moehamad Izat Emir.
He said even though the government also imposed a fine on the smokers, it did not mean that they would comply with the regulations as the traders would have no control over their actions.
“As a result the traders will face the repercussions as they cannot tell their customers to stop smoking and abide by the government regulations.
“… the drastic measures taken by the government in enforcing the ban have caught the petty traders by surprise,” he said in a media statement here yesterday.
In October, the Health Ministry announced that smoking in all restaurants, coffee shops and hawker centres nationwide would be banned starting 2019, even in open-air eateries.
Those caught smoking in prohibited areas would be fined up to RM10,000 or face two years’ jail, while food outlet operators found to have allowed customers to light up would be fined up to RM5,000 or face up to one year in jail.
Meanwhile, in Shah Alam on Thursday a “Nasi Kandar” restaurant worker in Section 25 here was slapped by a customer who was unhappy when told not to smoke in the restaurant.
Shah Alam district police chief ACP Baharudin Mat Taib said the restaurant owner, in a police report, said his worker, a 25-year-old Indian national, had told three
local male customers, in their 30s, politely not to smoke when one of the men got up and slapped the victim.
Immediately after that all three paid up and walked out.
According to ACP Baharudin the worker was not hurt in the incident. – Bernama
