Smoking Ban Confusion in Malaysia

After 2018, Malaysia’s Health Ministry has implemented a smoking ban or anti-smoking measures to limit the number of underage smokers and shield people from secondhand smoke exposure. 

According to data released by the Malaysian Health Ministry in 2015, 22,8 percent of Malaysians aged 15 and up were smokers. Manufactured tobacco, hand-rolled cigarettes, and smokeless cigarettes were smoked by 43 percent of men and 1,4 percent of women. 

To limit the number of smokers in Malaysia and protect people from secondhand smoke and passive smoking, the Malaysian Health Ministry adopted several anti-smoking measures in 2018, all of which were per the MPOWER recommendations of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. 

MPOWER is a series of six low-cost, high-impact interventions that help countries minimize tobacco demand. There are some of the measures: 

• Tobacco usage and preventive policies are being tracked. 
• Tobacco smoke is being shielded from users. 
• Providing support in stopping smoke. 
• Tobacco’s threats are highlighted. 
• Enforcing cigarette advertisement, marketing, and endorsement prohibitions 

As a result, on January 1, 2018, the Malaysian Health Ministry began enforcing the “smoking ban” rules. According to the Control of Tobacco Products (Amendment) Regulations, smoking is prohibited in “any premises, whether within or outside a house, where food is cooked, consumed, or sold,” as well as “any area within a distance of three meters from any table or chair that is situated to eat or drink at.” 

The Ministry of Health produced a special video to explain how the “three-meter” no-smoking radius is determined at food outlets, as well as where smokers are required to puff. They seem to have trouble measuring the exact position of the “three-meters” guideline, after being told that it starts at the restaurant entrance. Several restaurants in Malaysia have tables outside the restaurant house as it gets dark. This practice makes it impossible for restaurant owners to defend the “three-meter” rule to smokers, who believe it is acceptable to smoke there because it is three meters away from the entrance. 

Smoke Solution has developed the Outdoor Smoke Cabin, which offers a friendly smoking area for smokers, the government, and restaurant owners to prevent misunderstandings over the “three-meters” guideline. Smoke Solution’s Outdoor Smoke Cabin provides a clean, spacious place for several smokers to congregate without polluting the atmosphere. 

Our Outdoor Smoking Cabin helps smokers to smoke in a relaxing atmosphere where their smoke does not pollute the environment, while others continue to avoid secondhand smoke. Passive smoking and smoke odor are eliminated in public rooms, exits, and offices thanks to the cabin’s powerful filtration system, which catches particles and gases. The Outdoor Smoking Cabins are suitable for airports, hospitals, public buildings, and workplaces.