Smokers’ Sunset

Posted on By Reedz

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Earlier this week, I attended a briefing session on the Tobacco Act which was held by officials from MOH for retail store operators. The Act is scheduled for full enforcement next month.

During the session, retailers and vendors were briefed on the regulations of selling cigarettes. All licences for selling tobacco are only limited to one-business premises and the licence holder must be the applicant applying for the licence.

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Acting Director General of Health Services Dr Hjh Kalsom Abd Latif chairing the session.

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Dr Hj Zulhilmi POKHP Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah, Head of the Tobacco Control Unit briefing the audience on the warning notice guidelines; approved durable material, as well as the size and image of the warning sign.

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The audience

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Some of the retailers during the Q&A session

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This gentleman had an interesting question regarding minors buying cigarettes on behalf of adults. The answer was “no”. The adults will have to buy their own cigarettes from now on.

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Sample of the no smoking sign now required by law

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Retailers collecting posters

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Comments (21)

  2. I’m surprised how active the retailers are in getting all the posters for their business but my question is “Will they enforce the NO SMOKING rule when people smoke in their establishments? Though the number has decreased, I still see establishments allow patrons smoke in restaurants as they do not want to provoke the customers. Where are the fining officers? We need them to enforce the rule!

  4. Al: hehe looks like there’ll be less places for smokers now…

    Memoirs27: Lets just see how strong the enforcement is when the Act is fully enforced 🙂

    saiful: Shisha is definitely included under the Act.

  5. What action going to be taken to those who smoke at a non-smoking area such as hospital?

  7. entah, brunei ani macam macam sudah, liat saja tah kalau enforcement ani berhasil…. orang tani ani babal. kita tunggu lah….. kalau tantu shisha atu naik harga, tapi boleh berjual, bergaru boss sugar n spice tu eh.. pasal atu lah hasilnya… homous nya nada nyaman.. orang arab saja. from $10 to $15 now a shisha.. baik shisha di rumah…

  8. Andang humous atu inda nyaman jua wah … eeeee, kalau melayu, baik becacah susu manis … 😛

  9. What action going to be taken to those who smoke at a non-smoking area such as hospital?

    An appropriate fine would be a tour of the I.C.U. so the offender cannot claim ignorance!

    Oh that reminds me, wonder if David Cheok has seen this post! 🙂

  10. hmmm…

    Like in Singapore, people are not allowed to smoke in closed buildings.. and as smokers… we shouldn’t. Most I see already go outside to do their business. However, on the other side of the coin, this is also seen as discrimination. Whilst I do not encourage people to smoke, I also do not stop them from smoking IF their smoking does not affect others. E.g. smoking in a room with young children around.. is something I would walk up to a smoker and tell off (being a smoker myself) BUT if he or she is smoking outside or in a designated smoking area, I’d ask him to join me. Smoking at the end of the day is still in the hands of the individual. At the end of the day, all this has become nothing but pure discrimination just as in the days of racial discrimination based on the status quo. Some countries have the courtesy and respect to allocated a safe smoking zone for those who want to smoke.. here, smokers get the frown and the look. Are the individual rights of the smoker now being backed up to a wall? Let me put this example in another point of view. Lets say a person has a particular belief that is different from the norm, do we shut this person out of society because he/she is abnormal? We all have our own lives and our own destinies to lead. Allah SWT teaches us to be respectful and adaptive to the people around us and never to practice discrimination..

    NB. I do not encourage smoking nor will i want my children to smoke. Some of us, unfortunately, have been victims to experiences in our lives and maybe our destiny to die from smoking related deaths.. however, we accept our fates as this journal is the path Allah SWT has chosen for us.

  11. Memoirs27: We should wait until the law is enforced.
    Saiful: As stated by AB, shisha is included, as is all tobacco containing products
    Halim&Shim: Smoking in hospitals is being tackled, as stated by a commenter, Brunei smokers are a bit difficult to comment on when they light up. They forget the rights of others to fresh air. More announcements in June regardng this

  12. David: In the new regulations, there are ONLY 28 places identified as No Smoking areas. There are many other places to light up.
    Remember when we had smoking seats on planes? These were filled up by NON-smokers and smokers would go there to smoke after meals and pollute the air, thank god they’ve gotten rid of that. You know why?

    Same thing with restaurants at the moment, smokers would sit inside and smoke outside while non-smokers who can’t get a seat inside will have to breath in the smoke. It is easier for smokers in my opinion.

  13. I can see ‘No Smoking Signs’ are all over the place restaurants and yet, besigup jua orang kitani ani, antah ah, if overseas, pandai kitani ikut peraturan, but udah d Brunei macam buat inda paham saja.. canakan tu! I can’t wait for the ACT to be in full force.

  14. Hj Zul:
    “…. ONLY 28 places identified as No Smoking areas. There are many other places to light up.”

    – Hospital e.g. Does this mean within the buildings OR within the compound? Its a long long walk out of the hospital compound.

    “Remember when we had smoking seats on planes?”
    Got no problems with that. Even as a smoker, I can’t stand it either.

    “smokers would sit inside and smoke outside while non-smokers who can’t get a seat inside will have to breath in the smoke”

    Why can’t restaurants be allowed the option of isolating a smoking and non-smoking section (e.g. open air or disconnected area)? I skip going to a lot of restaurants nowadays because the same issue. It stops them from receiving potential clients. I believe those that would like to cater for smokers and can repartition their premises to effectively separate out the ambience should be allowed that.

  15. PS. I dont smoke in restaurants that are Non Smoking. I dont go there period.

  16. So I guess you don’t go to any of the Empire restaurants, RBC restaurants, Excapade, Fast food joints? I bet you have been to one of these places.

    I guess this is what someone commented about in the BFF, “why aren’t we educating smokers regarding the dangers of smoking?” They know the dangers but still continue to smoke. Even partitions carry risk to the customers and the workers. if you don’t care about them, then how about your loved ones and your friends, they have to eat in the smoking section with you. The law is trying to protect them from your deadly tobacco smoke. How difficult is it to take five minutes to get out, have a smoke and come back to the restaurant?

  18. ” How difficult is it to take five minutes to get out, have a smoke and come back to the restaurant?”

    Not difficult at all. The issue here is not that smoking is hazardous to health. Its that there is more and more discrimination against smokers and people are now pushing smokers to the streets. Smoking is a disease and you’re the cure.

    Its easy to stand on the non-smoking side and preach the dangers. Its easy to talk and preach about loved ones possibly dying from this and that. Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of a smoker and imagined the train of thought he or she has to go through? I was like you once.

  19. “f you don’t care about them, then how about your loved ones and your friends, they have to eat in the smoking section with you. ”

    PS.. dont assume.

  20. I have put myself in your shoes and I know how difficult it is to quit. I also understand how difficult it is for smokers to visualise the long term damage smoking is doing to themselves and their loved ones. All we are asking is for smokers to be considerate to non-smokers as well.

    I don’t assume because these are facts. I have seen parents, smelling of cigarette smoke, who bring their small children in to clinics, wondering why they asthma are not getting better and we get told off for blaming it on their smoking habits. Who will fight for them?

  21. HjZul thanks for the clarification. I am not an anti to smokers. However, I am not comfortable seeing people smoking at the restricted area such as hospital.

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