A Designated Smoking Point in Nee South Zone D. It's more a novelty than a deterrent and looks to cost several hundreds at least to set up.
I heard rumours last year about a plan to convert Nee Soon South into a 'smoke-free zone' by its' MP, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. I thought maybe she'll think it over and realise the futility of the plan and focus on more productive things. Alas that was wishful thinking on my part, I forgot this was Lee Bee Wah we were talking about. Sure enough, last week this wonderful scheme took effect. (see link below)
Like many silly and pointless exercises it looks pretty neat on paper. Smokers in 'Zone D' will be encouraged to puff away in 6 Designated Smoking Points (DSPs). All of them are located away from paths trodden by residents and are situated mainly in grass patches. Mdm Lee hopes to raise awareness about the harmful effects on '2nd hand smoke' by smokers and wants to convince them of this by using social pressure and educational outreach.
Further to these 6 DSPs, publicity materials such as banners, posters and floor decals will also be displayed prominently. In addition some 20 'ambassadors' of the Health Promotion Board will be on hand to 'guide and advise' smokers together with grassroots leaders in the constituency.
All these looks good but delve deeper into the whole scheme, you'll soon realise it's a complete waste of time, public resources and funds. And it's not just me who's saying this. In a surprise twist, even a journalist from the MSM lambasted it. Ms Maureen Koh in Sunday's New Paper (TNP) summed it up perfectly - Get Real. The New Paper sent a team to observe this new scheme in the zone, spending 4 hours at a time on Wednesday and Friday last. Their observation? The DSPs were practically empty all the time. And she rightly pointed out that since there's no prohibition in lighting up in areas not affected by the Law, it's basically a toothless tiger.
Yes education and outreach is all well and good, but let's be practical, if you really want somebody to stop doing something, the only sure way is to make a law. It's not just here in Singapore but elsewhere, it's human nature. As long as something is not legally wrong, most people will insist on their right of freedom to do it. And banning smoking outright is never a good idea. For one, it'll give criminal elements a perfect business opportunity. If you look at the USA's prohibition on drinking in the 1920s, this was the 1 single thing that made the Mafia powerful.
Prior to the banning of smaller packs of cigarettes and keeping duty reasonable, you could hardly find 'contraband cigarette sellers' in Singapore. There was just no point or profit, in selling cigarettes smuggled in from Indonesia, Malaysia or elsewhere. But once the ban of small packs began and the prices of cigarettes soared over the $10 mark, some smokers started to feel the crunch and this gave others the opportunity to smuggle in contraband cigarettes. Even with the stiff penalties and rigid enforcement, it still thrives today. The 1 thing that's hindering its growth however is not the enforcement action (although it plays a part), rather it's the introduction of cheaper brands of cigarettes. Previously when you had only the popular brands like Marlboro and Dunhill, some smokers were more easily coerced to buy contraband cigarettes, because these brands were expensive. However with all sorts of new brands in the market now, and selling at below $10, smokers are more inclined to smoke these legal cigarettes than risk it with the contraband ones.
Therefore if a blanket ban is imposed nationwide, it'll will inevitably see a spike in contraband cigarettes or if the excise duties once again drive them beyond the $10 mark. Revenue and health concerns aside, there will always be smokers. After all isn't it a person's right to choose to do what he pleases with his own person as long as it's legal? Whatever their reasons for smoking, be it pleasure, stress relief etc, it's a personal thing, we can only discourage and advise, we can't force people to stop or make it next to impossible and altogether inconvenient for smokers to puff away in open areas. We can restrict by law where they can smoke, but we cannot impose something as outrageous as MP Lee's scheme.
In fact according to TNP's report, residents in her zone were not pleased that their views were not canvassed and were annoyed by the scheme. Telling neighbours even strangers, to stop or smoke in the DSPs is not a wise idea as it might lead to disputes or even worse, fights. And smokers themselves are not pleased at being treated like some kind of outcast. As it is, there are so many laws restricting them in public areas, a blanket scheme like this, irks them further with the inconvenience caused.
I don't know where Mdm Lee got this idea from or why she thought it wise to go through with it. But did she consider the other crucial elements in implementing this scheme? Firstly, it only makes 1 zone smoke free, even if it's extended to the others, it's still only 1 constituency. It's rather strange to have a scheme in just 1 corner of the island and unfairly targets those in that area. Then we have to look at cost and the use of public funds. Is it proper and wise to waste public monies to build these DSPs and use it on materials to promote it? Is there really a need for it.when there are laws governing lighting up in public?
Next is the time and effort needed to carry this scheme out. Is it good or prudent to get volunteers to forego this, when instead they could do something more productive that could benefit the residents in her constituency? Instead of this hare-brained scheme, wouldn't it have been better for these volunteers to do something like what Mdm Fion Phua does, as mentioned in my previous article?
Like the journalist inferred, Mdm Lee should 'get real!' I don't think voters in her constituency pay her $13,800 a month to come out with schemes like this, that serves no purpose except to make herself look good on paper. If she continues to act in this fashion, out of touch and unconcerned with the situation on the ground, then the title she loves to use - Er (meaning engineer, although rarely used by most engineers) should be also be changed. We can address her as Err Dr Lee Bee Wah, because erring seems to be her speciality - I don't think I need to elaborate on her past missteps, they have a life their own. And this together with all those will make her go down as the one of the worst MPs ever fielded by the PAP. You have to be a real hardcore PAP supporter to like her, everyone I've met that isn't, gets put off by her demeanour and way of talking down to people. If she thinks I'm lying, ask her to contest in a single ward, I even think either Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Desmond Lim who both got just 1% of the votes in the Punggol East by-elections, would defeat her in a straight fight.
Alas the poor people of Nee Soon South had no such chance to determine her fate as their choice of a directly elected representative. They have to bear with the strange 'smoke signals' she continues to send, oblivious to the real issues that they need addressed.
Sir Nelspruit
*The writer blogs at http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.sg/