The days of stepping out for a quick smoke break might soon be a thing of the past, as the Health Ministry is determined to make the walk from your office to a legal smoking zone longer and longer, and make a shop that sells cigarettes even harder to find.
Health Minister S Subramaniam announced today that there would be a staged increase in the classification and number of smoke-free zones, as well as tighter restrictions as to which business premises could sell cigarettes in the first place.
“These are two of the strategies we are employing to control and limit the number of smokers in Malaysia. We are holding out hope that we can one day declare Malaysia a smoke-free country, although we do not know when that will be,” Subramaniam told Berita Harian.
And if you’re wondering about that other strategy the Federal Government always uses, don’t worry (or, you know, worry la): Subramaniam said his ministry would continue to push for raising the import duties and retail price of cigarettes.
Time to vape, maybe?
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