SMOKING TO BE EXTENDED AT ALL EATERIES IN MALAYSIA?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Smoking will soon be banned at all eateries nationwide, even at open-air premises and those without air-conditioning.

This will include mamak stalls, kopi tiam and food courts, according to a post on the Health Ministry website.

The ministry will also be gazetting all public and national parks, including theme parks, as non-smoking zones.

This will be another blow to smokers who are already prevented from puffing in air-conditioned restaurants, shopping centres and sheltered walkways, as well as in and around rest-stops along the highways.

Coffeshop associations are protesting against the ban, calling for it to be implemented gradually over a two-year period and that affected premises be allowed to have a smoking area in the back or elsewhere.

Restaurant owners also protested, saying they would lose business as soon as the ban is implemented.

They urged the authorities to allow owners to choose whether or not theirs would be smoking or non-smoking eateries.

The Health Ministry said on its website that the ban would be in line with provisions set under the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, to which Malaysia is a signatory.

An estimated 100,000 Malaysians die every year from smoke-related illnesses, according to ministry statistics released earlier.

Source: The Star...More...